Let it Rain without Clouds
by LeviathanoftheSky
Summary: Five minutes in the past. Five minutes in the future. Five minutes to die. Five minutes to live. Five minutes can change everything. That one shot with the bazooka almost killed them both. 8018 YamaHiba / implied 5927
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

Notes: Occurs after the TYL arc, whenever that will happen hehe…

Warnings: Possible minor implications of stuff, a little blood, and a little cussing. Enjoy.

* * *

_My name is Yamamoto Takeshi. Age 25. Currently in love with a certain indifferent Cloud Guardian who most likely only tolerates me because I can hold my own against him in a fight. Most of the time. _

_Let's see… I'm Vongola's tenth Rain Guardian, not that it matters anymore since Tsuna… no, I shouldn't be thinking about that right now. Oh right, so we're on a mission, Hibari and me, and I think I'm about to join Tsuna really soon…_

_I turn my head to Hibari and throw him my best smile; hey, people tell me that's my best selling point. Above me I can see the glint of a few dozen machine guns. I almost laugh as I readied my sword. I mean, I know Hibari could probably get away from this no problem. After all, for some reason they're all pointing at me to begin with. I'm pretty sure I can block maybe a bullet or three but… Oh, I think I know now, they can't see him; I walked out first._

_It was supposed to be a fairly simple mission: reconnaissance of a warehouse where several of our men reported strange activities. I honestly didn't expect the two of us to walk straight into a trap. Wait, they still can't see him. That's good. You know, I think I hesitated for a second there; I'm not that ready to die yet. I mean, Hibari's not coming with me, so… Ah, my resolution is dissolving ha ha! Have to stop that..._

_Good thing I didn't tell Hibari yet, not that it matters; I've never seen him cry… like me when… oh wait, that doesn't matter now either. I… I have to look at the bright side of things! I'll be seeing Dad soon too…_

_I can almost feel them tensing around me. They're ready to fire. This might actually hurt…_

_It feels like forever when you're waiting to die. Maybe I can do a countdown! Five… four… I'm finding it a little hard to hold my smile… two… I think… one… I really… ze… Hibari…_

"_Takeshi!"_

'Ah,' Yamamoto thought in a mental half-sigh-half-yell as a mass of smoke severed his ties to reality, throwing him to the floor. He admitted that the fall hurt quite a bit; he had hit his head on whatever he landed on, and the environment around him spun a little from the shock. 'Hearing him call me by my first name before I die… I can live with that… Oh wait, I mean 'die' with that.' He smiled serenely and chuckled to himself as the little particles of dirt cascaded around him like a miniature dust storm. He waited patiently for the darkness to take him and the sounds of metal against metal, tonfa against guns and other weapons to start echoing through the warehouse, but neither of that happened. 'Do I have to wait for death too?" he thought, frowning. 'Wait... if this is death, then it really doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would,' he observed, finally realizing that he could feel the cold touch of what seemed like floor tiles underneath him, and now that he thought about it, the dust actually tickled his nose irritatingly.

"Yamamoto-san?" he suddenly heard a panicked voice call his name from the other side of the wall of smoke. He frowned. It sounded familiar and yet he couldn't quite place his finger on it; it was almost like…

"Tsuna?" Yamamoto answered excitedly, deciding death couldn't be all bad if he could see Tsuna again, except he wondered why the other sounded so young. True, the Rain Guardian sometimes forgot things absentmindedly, but to forget that one's boss and friend passed on at the young age of 24 was completely unacceptable. "Tsuna! Is that really you?" he called out again.

"Wah! Lambo! You really hit Yamamoto-san!" he heard Tsuna again from the other side of the now quickly clearing smoke, and he made out the sound of crying accompanying Tsuna's voice along with a few chokes of a word that he deciphered as, "Tolerate!"

'Wait… Lambo's not…' The smoke finally cleared enough for him to realize that they were currently in one of Namimori High's many hallways. He almost grinned a little, remembering the little things that happened in this particular hallway of the school like they occurred yesterday. Here was where he had finally managed to best Hibari in a small scuffle that first time after Gokudera had almost killed himself in a mass of explosions during the second round of the Ring Battles. 'Hibari…' he almost breathed out the name as his mind snapped back to the current situation.

"Lambo…" he gasped as the shock of realization slowly sank in. "I think you might have just killed the younger me…"

...

Hibari Kyoya was fast, a fact everyone in the underground world knew or had at least heard of, but two dozen enemy hitmen all equipped with machine guns aimed at a target at least ten feet away from him complicated even the Cloud Guardian's decision making and movement. If they had fired at Hibari, he could have gotten away easily; after all, he doesn't get hit easily to begin with. However, moving another object larger and most likely heavier than himself who looked like he was already accepting death was a little difficult.

He tried anyway. After all, Yamamoto's content expression and cheesy smile annoyed him to no end. He wanted to bite the other to death for giving in so easily, and that wasn't going to happen if the Rain Guardian died prematurely.

Later, he decided, when he had the time and energy, he would curse his instincts, but not now. They fired.

...

"What? What was happening?" Tsuna exclaimed, panic filling his eyes.

"Uh… I was on a mission with Hibari. We… no… I was just about to get fired at." Yamamoto scratched his head nervously. "I seriously thought for a second there that I'd died."

"No! That means after 5 minutes, you'll…" Tsuna fell weakly to his knees.

"Tenth!" Gokudera called the Vongola boss as he put his hands on the other's shoulders, attempting to shake the other out of it. "Hey! Calm down! You can't break down now!"

"We've fought so hard… and now…" Tsuna muttered.

"We have a few more minutes," Yamamoto said awkwardly, attempting to put on his usual grin. It worked; Tsuna looked up, apparently comforted by his friend's "normal" expression, even if it was on a face that was ten years older. "Who knows? Maybe Hibari somehow figured something out, and it's not like I would die that easily, right? I mean, come on! I'm your Rain Guardian!" He decided not to mention that he was more or less accepting his imminent death a few moments ago.

"Yeah…" Tsuna sighed, shaking a little as he stood up with the help of Gokudera. "You're right, worrying won't help. We should get an ambulance ready, just in case."

...

"Ow…" Yamamoto groaned, frowning a little. He didn't expect to be back in the future so soon, especially right at the moment when his future self was thrown backwards onto the ground. He felt something wet drip onto his face and touched it, confused. It felt too warm for comfort, and he immediately began looking around for the source of the blood. "What…" Yamamoto froze when he saw Hibari above him, arms on the ground on either side of the Rain Guardian, trying to keep himself from falling on top of the teenager.

The liquid came from a gash on the other's cheek, and it took another second for the Rain Guardian to see the rest of the wounds; blood flowed freely from bullet holes with the cursed metal cases half embedded in the former Disciplinary Committee Head's chest, and another set of injuries came from cuts created by bullets that just grazed the other's arms, legs, and torso; a small tinge of relief swept over Yamamoto when he realized that the bullets had at least missed his savior's head. Anyone would die from a bullet to the head no matter how strong, unless it happened to be one of Reborn's special bullets that he used on Tsuna. Their eyes finally met; wide brown ones stared dazedly into intense dark eyes that were quickly dilating.

'That bastard…' Hibari thought when he realized that the older Yamamoto had somehow switched places with the younger one. He supposed that it was for the best at the moment; things might have been worse if he hadn't managed to entirely throw both of them to the ground. He did hear most of the bullets fly above him, the ones that missed of course. Hibari studied the younger Yamamoto for a split second. He looked more or less unchanged from the time the Cloud Guardian saw him, a few months ago, no obvious facial scars to say the least. The eyes were the same, goofy and good-natured, but he immediately recognized the lack of experience; this Yamamoto was obviously still not entirely acquainted with the idea of death. This one had not lost his father yet, had not seen his friend gunned down, had not properly killed another man before, and Hibari almost smirked at the exasperated expression on the Rain Guardian's still innocent face. Almost. A sudden violent lurch in his head and a split second loss of vision told him that his studying time was up.

Hibari decided that he would at least keep this much of his dignity as he threw himself away from the teenager with a final push against the ground, crumpling into a heap besides the panicking Rain Guardian. His traitorous battered body gave a shudder, and he involuntarily coughed, feeling the blood swell up into his mouth, almost cutting off his breathing, and he gasped for air.

"Hibari!" Yamamoto finally regained enough of his senses to yell, panicking and looking around for possible help, finding no one.

"You're… too… loud…" Hibari said between breaths as he felt the blood pool beneath him. Around them his hedgehog's sphere gave a shudder as it was cut off from its master's Cloud Flames.

...

"Sawada Tsunayoshi," Hibari said, eyes flashing, as he held a tonfa to the other's neck. "You are crowding."

"Uh…" Tsuna gulped, wondering if it was a good idea to have called the ambulance directly into school grounds. "You see, Yamamoto-san is…"

"Hibari? Is that really you?" the older one cut in, unable to hold in the excitement in his voice despite the situation. The prefect stared at him for a moment, and Yamamoto laughed as a slight blush came on across his face. "I haven't seen you like this since ten years ago." Indeed, unfortunately for Yamamoto, the younger Hibari had swapped places with the older one long after Yamamoto himself had been hit by the bazooka during the war with Byakuran in the future.

Hibari ignored him and turned back to Tsuna. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Uh… when Yamamoto-san comes back, he might be…" Tsuna searched for an explanation that would make sense.

Meanwhile, Yamamoto indulgently studied the young Cloud Guardian a little absentmindedly as nostalgic memories made their way back into his thoughts. He remembered the time when Hibari had saved him during the Ring Battles. The other's determined figure basked in moonlight trying to give off a murderous air while cover in cuts and crude bandages… 'Was that when I fell in love?' Years after, during the spring when the other finally decided that he would give sakura watching another shot to the dismay of the others in Namimori except for Yamamoto…

"_Hey! Calm down a little!" Yamamoto said, laughing, and raising his hands up in defeat as the other tried to knock him to the ground. He finally calculated the timing correctly and caught the weapon in one hand, half-wrenching it from Hibari's grasp._

_The prefect stared at him with surprised eyes for a moment before attempting to smash Yamamoto's ribs in with the other tonfa. "Give it back," he hissed, thoroughly annoyed._

'_Ah, is he whining? This is rare,' Yamamoto thought, amused, as he narrowly avoided the attack. "Aw come on. Two isn't crowding right?"_

_Hibari stopped, glaring at him._

'_Yay, he stopped!' Something fuzzy and spiky suddenly collided with Yamamoto's face, knocking him to the ground, as he felt Hibari take the tonfa back. He realized that the other had thrown the Cloud hedgehog at him, and thanked the stars that the animal had landed on its belly instead of its spiky back._

"_Ah, um…" Yamamoto gently lifted the creature off his face and, to his surprise, found the other already sitting under a nearby tree. He laughed and walked over, handing the half-asleep hedgehog to Hibari. The Cloud Guardian had accidentally given the animal too many Flames again, and the little creature hiccupped before crawling contently into its master's lap. _

"_Ah ha ha, he likes you a lot," Yamamoto commented, grinning at the hedgehog and Hibari, a combination he thought didn't fit at all._

"_Ten feet away," Hibari muttered._

"_Huh?"_

_Hibari pointed to the side. "Sit over there." He closed his eyes. "And if you wake me or come any closer than ten feet, I'll bite you to death."_

"_Ah, okay," Yamamoto replied, grinning. Of course, after he made sure that the other had fallen asleep, he snuck over and stole a sakura petal that had landed in the other's hair before leaving._

Yamamoto unconsciously poked the necklace in his pocket; he had taken it off because of the mission, but he rarely parted with the hidden petal, especially when he was away from the older Cloud Guardian. After all, it wasn't often that Hibari was back at headquarters when the entire world was becoming his domain. Yamamoto smiled. Seeing a younger Hibari every now and then was refreshing.

"I love you so much…" Yamamoto almost mouthed, unable to contain the growing emotion inside of him, a gesture that the others thankfully hadn't caught. Or at least, he assumed that they others didn't notice. Hibari's eyes momentarily shifted toward him, but it happened so fast that Yamamoto decided that it was just his imagination. He let out a breath, concluding that the entire ordeal was getting to him. 'I'm becoming careless…'

"So you see…" Tsuna continued. A burst of smoke cut him off as the older Rain Guardian swapped back with the younger one.

"Yamamoto-san!" Tsuna yelled, moving past Hibari and away from the dangerous tonfa.

"Tsu… Tsuna?" a shaky voice answered. "Tsuna… Hi… Hibari…"

"Hey, Baseball Idiot!" Gokudera called, frowning. "Are you okay?"

The smoke cleared, revealing their friend staring blankly back, covered in blood. The substance stained his clothes in massive quantities; he looked like he had washed his hands in it.

"Ah! Yamamoto-san! Get the ambulance!" Tsuna yelled, himself heading towards the ambulance for help. To his surprise, Yamamoto suddenly grabbed his shirt, stopping him. "Wait here! You're going to be okay!" Tsuna told him.

"No, Tsuna…" Yamamoto seemed to have finally regained his voice. "I'm fine…"

"Fine? You're covered head to toe in blood! How the hell can you be fine?" Gokudera exclaimed.

Yamamoto turned to Hibari, who looked thoroughly annoyed by the whole situation, eyes demanding an explanation before he decided to bite everyone to death. The Cloud Guardian glared at his prey, watching as the other started to tremble. Yamamoto attempted to get to his feet, but they were jelly and refused to move. Sweat trickled down the side of his face, and his breathing quickened. The Hibari before him suddenly had shorter hair, matted against his face by sweat and blood. Eyes… dilating… The Rain Guardian opened his mouth to speak and then closed it, almost choking on his words.

'What's wrong with him?' Hibari thought irritably. He recognized the typical herbivore-like behavior, but he never expected it to come from Yamamoto. Furthermore, the other's actions were downright strange even for someone who might be afraid of Hibari, and it irritated him further when he didn't know the reason for the other's distress.

"I…" the Rain Guardian finally managed and fainted.

"_Yamamoto!"_

_

* * *

_

… Must write… more… Okay, so as of now I have no idea how long this will be, but for sure it would be more than 2 chapters, so that's cool, right? Ha ha, I don't know. Do people prefer longer stories or shorter ones?

Chapter 1 is fixed now, and I changed the summary a little.

Anyways, as usual, thank you for reading! (Insert little hearts here.)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

More warnings: Death, killing? Okay fine, it's like those movies where you go, "Oh look it's one of the extras! Oh, he's dead… Go (main character)!"

* * *

-Future-

The journey back didn't have to involve crashing into the floor, but Yamamoto threw himself to the ground anyway, instinctively rolling away from any possible bullets or other dangerous objects as soon as he felt his feet touch the floor of the warehouse. The action didn't quite give Yamamoto the results he wanted; he stopped just short of impaling himself on a familiar looking spike embedded in a small purple dome surrounding the immediate area. "Wah!" he gasped, jumping away from the danger.

'What happened here?' he thought as he poked the spike. To his surprise, a crack formed on the purple surface at the base of the spike, and the rest of the wall followed suit. 'Ah! I didn't do anything!' Yamamoto jumped to the side just as a fragment of the dome fell into the space that he previously occupied, and began running deeper into the middle of the structure. 'From dodging bullets to dodging spikes. Wonderful,' he thought, nearly tripping on a body on his way out. He did a double-take when he realized that he recognized said "body." It had to be him: the black hair, messy as it was, the clothing, the abandoned tonfa nearby.

The Cloud Guardian lied on his side in the middle of a pool of expanding blood, his hair limp and damp with the hemoglobin on his face and closed eyes. Yamamoto looked on in horror when he saw the multiple bullet wounds, many of which didn't go through. Hibari's body rose and fell erratically from audibly forced gasps for air that ran through punctured lungs; he was dying.

"Hibari!" Yamamoto yelled, aghast at the other's state. He looked around, finally understanding why the structure was collapsing around them. 'I have to get him out of here…' he gritted his teeth as he lifted the Cloud Guardian as gently as he could and began picking his way out of the crumpling warehouse. Almost unconsciously, Hibari grabbed Yamamoto's shirt as if his life depended on in. The words that came out of his mouth, however, prove otherwise.

"Leave… me… here…" Yamamoto heard.

'Wah! Even in this kind of situation he still…'

For Hibari, dying was always going to be a process, never an instantaneous occurrence. Yamamoto knew the other would fight it to the bitter end, and he was going to use that to his advantage. He was determined to stop the process, no matter what it cost him.

Yamamoto forced a smile. "No way."

Miraculously, Yamamoto finally made it out of the collapsing dome, finding himself in the middle of a now collapsing warehouse. He looked around quickly for any signs of life, all the while moving as fast as he could without shaking the limp one in his arms too much as he headed towards the exit.

"Stop right there!" he heard a yell above him. Yamamoto stopped, lightly putting Hibari's legs on the ground momentarily before pulling out a gun from inside his jacket and firing, all within a second; no second thoughts or any hesitation ran through his mind. The man gave a scream and fell from the second story, landing with a sickening crack on the concrete. Yamamoto picked up Hibari again and kept on running, the familiar sickening feeling rising in his throat…

_Yamamoto stared at his father's grave. He sported a fresh set of bandages on his face, notably his chin, a few on his body under his loose collared shirt, and a temporary crutch for his broken leg._

"_Hey Dad…" he muttered under his breath."I'm sorry." He had cried himself dry already the day of the funeral, so all he could manage now was a wretched tearless sob. Yamamoto composed himself slowly, sighing. "At the end, I almost couldn't avenge you. I hesitated…" he chuckled a little, looking at the bandages, "almost died there…"_

_Yamamoto knelt down, resting his forehead on the cold gravestone. "My hands… I have blood on them now. I'm sorry…" He stayed in that position for a while, letting the cold wind blow through his thin jacket, not even caring that he was leaving himself wide open to enemies alone in this graveyard. _

"_Move," a voice suddenly said behind him._

"_Huh?" Yamamoto looked up, seeing Hibari. The Cloud Guardian held a bouquet of flowers, and the familiar little yellow bird sat quietly on his shoulder, not singing for once._

"_You're in the way," Hibari said._

"_Oh, sorry…" Yamamoto painfully stood up and backed away slightly from his father's grave, watching in awe as the other bent down and placed the flowers down. After a moment of silence that seemed to last for minutes, Hibari stood up and began to leave._

"_Wait," Yamamoto called after him, making him stop._

"_What?" Hibari asked without turning._

"_Why…"_

"_He protected Namimori," the other answered and turned around, eyes glaring at Yamamoto. "And you, stop saying ridiculous things. You're not an herbivore. You should've expected to kill eventually."_

"_Huh?"_

"_If I ever hear that again, I'll bite you to death," Hibari hissed in a dangerous voice before leaving._

_When Yamamoto returned to the base that day, the others told him that Cloud Guardian had already left in search for the Boxes._

Yamamoto finally reached their car and placed Hibari in the back before taking the wheel.

"So I'm going to annoy you with a bunch 'herbivore talk' before we get back to the base so you have to bite me to death later, okay?" he said, chuckling and trying to calm himself down. Crashing and getting both of them killed wasn't on his agenda today.

-Present-

"Is he going to be okay?" Tsuna asked the doctor as the latter closed the door.

"He's had a mental breakdown from some sort of trauma. We should let him calm down a little first before trying to figure out what happened."

"Oh… but Yamamoto-san is going to be okay, right?" Tsuna repeated the question, seeking assurance.

The doctor smiled sadly. "It depends. We'll have to find the cause and try to diagnose him from there."

"Okay," Tsuna sighed.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't do more," the doctor said, bowing slightly before walking away, leaving Tsuna to his own thoughts.

'How'd it end up like this?' Tsuna thought, holding his head in frustration and nervousness.

"Don't worry, the Baseball Idiot's going to be okay," Gokudera said, putting a hand on Tsuna's shoulder comfortingly. Tsuna reached out unconsciously and gave his Storm Guardian's hand a light squeeze, not saying anything. Gokudera blushed at the gesture and looked away. If he was honest, he would have admitted that he was also a little worried at the Rain Guardian's state of mind. After all, he'd heard from the others that Yamamoto did try to kill himself once over a broken arm just because of baseball. Gokudera made a mental note to himself to watch the Rain Guardian more closely; if anything happened to the Baseball Idiot, then his precious Tsuna would be devastated, and he wouldn't allow that.

Meanwhile, behind the closed door near the two, Yamamoto stared blankly at the white sheets in front of him while sitting on the bed, his hands limp on the blankets.

"_Hibari!" Yamamoto yelled again despite the warning, trying to stop the worse of the bleeding with his hands. "What do I do? What do I do?" he panicked, looking frantically around for something, anything. He could see the blood continue to pool around his hand and soon it was trickling down the back…_

After a constrained attempt to calm down by taking a deep breath, Yamamoto jumped out of the bed and ran to the restroom. He turned on the hot water in the sink, waiting impatiently for the rushing water to warm up and steam. The Rain Guardian squirted some of the liquid soap on his hands before washing them under the hot water, rubbing vigorously. 'Blood… it's still not all off… Have to get it off…'

He finally realized how long he had been at it when the nurse came to check on him and called for the doctor. Within minutes, he was back in bed, eyes closing due to a few sleeping pills and both hands bandaged tightly with burn cream underneath.

-Future-

"Hold him still!" Shamal yelled to Yamamoto, who managed to grab Hibari's flailing arm and pinned it down to the bed while the doctor slowly inserted the piece of metal into one of the bullet holes. "Sheesh, Tsuna wasn't kidding when he said the idiot can fight when he's unconscious. Okay," he turned to Ryohei, "When I give the signal." The other nodded. Dr. Shamal wrenched the bullet out with a sickening squelch, creating another fountain of blood which the Sun Guardian stifled as quickly as he could with his Sun Flames. "Stop as soon as most of the bleeding's stop. I can't have you running out of Flames before taking care of the other wounds."

"Okay…" Ryohei said, strangely silent for most of the operation.

"Any more blood comes out of him, and he's a goner," Shamal growled as he quickly moved to the next wound. "Ah, and I said I wouldn't treat men. Why isn't he dead yet?"

"Ah ha ha, that's Hibari," Yamamoto said with a strained smile while looking down on the bloody mess. Despite trying to put on a strong front, he was shaking.

Shamal looked up from his work for a second, having seemingly noticed the other's tenseness. "Hey, don't worry. The quicker we finish, the more likely he'll live past the hour." He turned back to Hibari, "So don't you faint on me too, Yamamoto."

"Of course not," Yamamoto retorted, keeping his face in its fake grin.

-Present-

"He what?" Tsuna exclaimed the next morning when the doctor told him that Yamamoto had burned himself washing his hands.

"Wow, only that idiot can burn himself washing his hands," Gokudera frowned, raising an eyebrow.

"I have to…" Tsuna placed a hand on the doorknob to Yamamoto's hospital room, but the doctor quickly stopped him.

"Sorry, but right now a special guest is visiting your friend. We've been asked to not let anyone in until they are finished."

"How is anyone a special guest?" Gokudera retorted. "Let us in!"

"I'm sorry, we can't do that. Hibari-san has specifically emphasized that he would tolerate no crowding during his visit."

"Oh, that guy…" Tsuna swore he saw Gokudera's eyebrow go even higher.

"_Yamamoto!"_

_Tsuna turned around. He heard three voices calling Yamamoto's name: his, Gokudera's, and…_

'_Hibari? Did he just?'_

_Tsuna assumed that Hibari hadn't automatically called Yamamoto's name and was already ready to accept it if the other hadn't had a hand in front of his mouth, his eyes wide with shock at the fact that the name had came out so easily. Then, just like that, the expression disappeared and Hibari walked off, jacket trailing behind him; he knew that Tsuna and Gokudera would take care of the rest._

-Future-

Yamamoto stared absentmindedly at the night sky, twirling the unlit cigarette in his fingers. Hibari never did like smoking, so Yamamoto did his best to stay away from the cancer sticks although he did admit that the nicotine proved to be a nice stress-reliever every once and a while. He sighed and slid the cigarette back into its box, deciding that a glass of wine would probably be better for his nerves tonight. He heard footsteps approach him from behind, followed by several clinks.

"Hey," Gokudera walked up to him, leaning on the balcony next to Yamamoto, smoking on a cigarette as usual. Yamamoto wondered if the other smoked 24/7 now; Gokudera had been increasing his habit ever since Tsuna died. "You alright?" he asked after taking a whiff.

"Yeah…" he lied, looking down at his hands.

"I talked to Shamal, and he said it'll be a few more days before he's sure if the bastard's going to die or not. There'll be scars if he doesn't though."

"Yeah… I know…"

Gokudera sighed. "So do you want a drink?"

Yamamoto turned around, realizing that the other had brought out a bottle of wine and a few glasses on the table. He chuckled. "Thanks…"

The two drank in silence, disturbed only by a few late night birds and some chirping crickets. Yamamoto waited for the other to say something, but Gokudera merely interchanged between smoking and drinking.

"This is pretty good," Yamamoto finally commented.

"Yeah…" Gokudera answered, deep in thought. "Ryohei brought it back a few days ago."

"I see…"

After a few more minutes, a contorted sniff from the other made Gokudera look up.

"I'm not sure what to think now… first Dad…" Yamamoto whispered, "and then Tsuna, and now…" he put a hand to his head; he knew he was drunk by now. "If Hibari dies, I…"

Gokudera suddenly jumped out of his chair and grabbed his friend by the collar, lifting him to his feet before giving him a shake. Yamamoto's chair fell to the ground with an audible clank that echoed around the balcony. "That bastard's not going to die. Haven't you learned that yet, after all these years?" He sighed when the other stared at him, surprised, and let go, returning to his former position. "Man, you're hopeless. Shamal's just mad because you forced him to treat a guy."

Yamamoto smiled slightly before chuckling and bringing his chair back into an upright position before sitting back down, "Yeah… I guess you're right. I can't help it."

Gokudera put a hand up to his head, sighing. "Man, I remember when the Tenth… almost drank myself to death, but you and Lambo just had to find me."

"Yeah, you gave us a scare." Yamamoto smiled a little. "I didn't know you couldn't hold your alcohol."

"Idiot, I went through several bottles already by that time. Look at you! It's only been two glasses!" Gokudera retorted.

Yamamoto chuckled. "I guess you're right." He sighed, leaning back in his seat a little and looking up at the sky. "You know, I heard from Ryohei that Hibari can't hold his alcohol either."

Gokudera stared at him incredulously. "Seriously?" He laughed. "I have to see that!"

"Let's all go drinking after all of this…"

"You want that bird to kill you?"

"Hey, I'm not even supposed to be here right now."

"Shut up," Gokudera hissed.

"Ah ha, sorry." Yamamoto sighed, a little sleepy. "I'm just so… in love… with him…"

Gokudera froze. "Come again?" He admit that already kind of knew, but Yamamoto had been very good at hiding it, so sometimes Gokudera just dismissed the little glances the Rain Guardian threw Hibari as creations of his overly imaginative mind. "There's no way the Baseball Idiot's in love with that guy…" he remembered once saying to Tsuna, who laughed. 'Did Tsuna know?' Gokudera now asked himself. 'He probably did… Hyper Intuition… Oh great, Yamamoto's going to have a hell of a time trying to catch this psycho…'

"Can I join you guys?" an enthusiastic roar broke the conversation. They looked up to find the Sun Guardian holding another bottle of wine, grinning. "I brought more! We can drink to the extreme!"

"No way! When you get drunk, something always breaks!" Gokudera retorted, frowning.

"Not every time!" Ryohei responded happily as he sat down and helped himself to the first bottle. "Let's drink to the extreme! Oh, we can invite Lambo!"

"He's underage, Lawn Head!"

"Oh yeah…" Ryohei suddenly jumped up, yelling, "Ah! I forgot!" and ran back into the house.

"What's up with him?" Gokudera asked. Yamamoto shrugged. The Sun Guardian returned promptly, carrying a yellow envelope that looked like another assignment.

"I stole this from Giannini!" he said quietly, to the surprise of the other two since Ryohei was rarely quiet, as he handed the envelope to Yamamoto. "If it helps with Hibari, but let at least one of us go with you. They're too large of a group to handle alone."

"Huh?" Yamamoto opened the envelope, staring at its contents. He looked back up at Ryohei seriously. "Do you really think I'm that type of person?"

"It's got to be done eventually, and it'll give you something to take your mind off of things, right?" Ryohei said reasonably.

'Man, that Lawn Head's too mature now,' Gokudera thought irritably.

"I…" Yamamoto began uncertainly.

"Tell us later! Now let's drink!" Ryohei declared, gulping down the previously poured glass of alcohol.

'Nevermind, he's still crazy,' Gokudera concluded.

Meanwhile, Yamamoto stared at the address before him, knuckles whitening.

-Present-

Yamamoto didn't look up when the door opened, instead choosing to stare blankly at his hands on the white sheets. He had more or less regained most of his senses by now; the nurse had kindly told him that he had his hands under the scalding water for at least half an hour before she found him, but he still felt uncomfortable.

"Yamamoto Takeshi," the visitor said irritably when his entrance elicited no response from the patient.

The Rain Guardian slowly looked up, knowing that it was a bad idea. It happened almost instantaneously; the moment his eyes met Hibari's, the same ones, 10 years older with dilating pupils looked back at him. He no longer saw the current Hibari, he saw a man in his mid-twenties covered in bullet holes, dying while still having enough strength to push himself away from Yamamoto in order to keep from collapsing on him.

The Rain Guardian inwardly shuddered and started to look away as Hibari strode across the room and held a tonfa to the other's throat, almost slamming the other's head into the metal frame of the bed.

"Look at me," he hissed.

Yamamoto closed his eyes. "I can't," he answered truthfully, trying to force a smile. Even that didn't work; the bloody memory cascaded back into his thoughts, washing all old instincts away. "I'm sorry," he choked out, trying to laugh.

Hibari glared at him for a moment, wondering why he was even wasting his time with this pathetic weak-willed herbivore. "Why not?" he asked in a whisper after a moment of consideration.

"I…"

"What happened?" he hissed as he pressed the tonfa further into the other's neck.

"Ah, Hibari, you're choking me…" Yamamoto managed to chuckle at this point.

Hibari glared at him, slowly loosening the pressure. "Well?" he demanded impatiently.

"Ah… you… you were dying," Yamamoto managed, still refusing to look at him by keeping his eyes tightly shut.

"Nonsense," the other answered, and the Rain Guardian felt the pressure of the metal against his throat build up again. He wondered if he'd end up bitten to death before he managed to say everything.

"I don't know what was going on, but you were above me and… there were bullet holes, and there was so much blood… the smell goes right into your nose, you know." Of course Hibari knew; he reveled in its scent all too frequently after a battle. "Then I tried to stop some of it, and it got all over my hands. I almost thought my hands were bleeding."

Hibari looked down at Yamamoto's hands. He didn't believe the doctor when the latter had called and told him that the Namimori student had tried to burn his hands off with hot water, but the clutter of bandages proved otherwise. "Then… I don't know… it's just so… ow!"

Hibari had poked the bandages out of curiosity, forgetting for a second that things like this hurt. His face flushed momentarily at the temporary lapse in memory, and he prepared his tonfa to knock out the other just in case Yamamoto did decide to open his eyes. Luckily for both of them, the Rain Guardian still kept them tightly shut.

"If you can't hold a sword anymore after this, then I'll have no use for you," he hissed threateningly in Yamamoto's ear as he turned around and began walking away.

"Ah, Hibari…"

He stopped at the door. "Come back to school tomorrow. It's only me that you can't look at, right?"

"Huh?" Yamamoto finally opened his eyes, but his room was empty.

* * *

Hello again! Chapter 3 will be up, at the latest, around Friday. (I have a midterm on Monday, and may or may not do much writing during the weekdays.) So right now, it's definitely going to be more than 3 chapters ha ha! Yay! (Insert happy face here.)

Anyone notice that people in KHR just DON'T DIE? (On screen that is.) I remember reading the part where older Hibari pwned Gamma, and I was like, "The spike went through his throat ah!" (Last page of chapter 154). And then he shows up a bunch of chapters later… amazing…

Ah, and I apologize in advance, or if I already did it, for any OOCness. It happens… I've read some stories that I thought were brilliant even though Hibari was a little too mean or way too nice ha ha! I think I prefer him nicer though, wait, nah… Hibari pwning people is so… hot… (Excuse me for a second… fangirling here… I'm mostly unbiased, just as long as Hibari's still biting other people to death for crowding or other illogical reasons.). Ahem, so I think Yamamoto really isn't the type to freak out like this, but then I also remembered the first few chapters of the manga where he was attempting to jump off a building (sigh…). So… yeah ha ha, despite any of this stuff, I still hope you can enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.

Anyways, thank you for reading! Until the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

-Future-

"Hey," Yamamoto said softly as he closed the door behind him. The moon shone through the opened curtains, illuminating the life support and the base of the bed sheets. A customary beep from the heart monitor by the bed sang the only song in the room. Yamamoto grabbed a nearby chair and quietly slid it next to bed, sitting down. He studied the other passively; a rather large piece of gauze covered Hibari's cheek, covered slightly by limp black hair and an oxygen mask.

Yamamoto smiled sadly. "I'm glad you're doing well." He looked around the room, strangely void of a bright yellow ball of fluff that would have instantly brightened the dreary hospital room with its presence. "You know, I haven't seen Hibird at all lately." He chuckled. "Well, if I see him, I'll give him some sushi, so don't worry about the little guy, okay?"

The piece of paper weighed heavily in his pocket, and he tried to ignore his nerves, wanting to keep his mind off his self-proclaimed mission for as long as possible. He closed his eyes, humming tunelessly. "You know, I've been talking with the others. We'll all go for a drink when you better, okay? No refusing; I'll pay for yours."

He looked at Hibari's sleeping face again and the bandages that littered his face and head.

_Yamamoto pulled the blanket and tucked it just under Hibari's chin, letting out the breath he was holding in relief._

"_Man, I can't believe he's still alive." Dr. Shamal tapped the heart monitor lightly. "Is this thing broken?"_

_The Rain Guardian chuckled. "Yeah, he's still breathing."_

_Shamal frowned. "Hey, let's not celebrate just yet. Just because he's breathing now doesn't mean he'll stay like that."_

"_Yup! He'll get better to the extreme and then bite us all to death!" Ryohei cut in energetically._

"_Yeah yeah. Well, I'm going to sleep now. The computers will alert us if anything comes up," Shamal said, yawning, and left._

_Yamamoto looked Hibari over; he's never seen the other so defenseless before. Usually, it'd be one of them knocked out, and the Cloud Guardian would "just happen" to be passing by and the enemy would somehow "just happen" to be disturbing the discipline of Namimori. The guy was a lone predator in all aspects, always ready to fight and never willing to accept any form of help from the others of Vongola. Now, seeing his crush of ten years dangling off a cliff between life and death, it was…_

_A hand on Yamamoto's shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts, but he didn't look away from the sleeping Cloud Guardian. "I'm sorry… There's only so much Sun Flames can do." Ryohei tried to lighten the mood a little. "Hey, when he wakes up, he'll be all yakuza-like with scars to the extreme and then he'll…"_

"_Bite us all to death," Yamamoto finished for him, smiling._

"_Yeah!" Ryohei agreed. He looked at the other's face and then turned away. "Ah, I'm going to go change and wash some of this blood off to the extreme. You should rest too; you've had a long day."_

"_Yeah… thanks…" Yamamoto told him. The door closed behind him, and the Rain Guardian just stood there, allowing the tears to fall freely from him his eyes, down his face, and off the tip of his jaw and chin._

He reached over to move some of Hibari's hair away from his peaceful eyes, but stopped and retracted his hand. 'He wouldn't want me touching him,' he thought, still keeping the smile plastered on his face.

"I have to go somewhere for a bit," he began, wondering if the room had cameras or microphones. He decided he'd risk it. "So don't die before I come back, okay?" It almost came out as a whimper as his voice slightly broke towards the end. He took a deep breath, regaining his composure, and grinned. "I'll be going then. Wish me luck, Hibari!"

With that, he left, the heart monitor still beeping persistently in the silence.

-Present-

"Are you sure you're okay?" Tsuna asked as they walked to school.

"Yeah, I'm okay now. Sorry about that," Yamamoto said, chuckling and scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"What about your hands?"

"Ah, they're okay too." Yamamoto showed Tsuna his half-bandaged hands, chuckling. "That burn cream they had at the hospital works really well."

"Geez, you almost gave us a heart attack, coming back all bloody like that," Gokudera frowned. "What did Hibari say to you anyway?"

"Ah…" The grin dropped a little as Yamamoto tried to think of a believable explanation for the strange little conversation he had with the Cloud Guardian.

"_It's only me that you can't look at, right?"_

Yamamoto seriously didn't feel like spending the rest of his school days avoiding Hibari, nor did he want the prefect purposely avoiding him. It was like he was throwing a chain over the skylark, and that notion didn't appeal to him at all; he'd rather have Hibari fly wherever he pleased just like before this entire mess.

"Gokudera-san!" Tsuna said indignantly. He didn't want to pry too much into the situation now; he sensed that the worse wasn't over yet, and the Yamamoto currently walking to school with them was only going to be temporarily in this phase.

"He told me to come back to school, so here I am," Yamamoto answered truthfully. "I'd rather not get bitten to death yet," he added, chuckling.

"Sure…" Gokudera replied, unconvinced.

They finally reached Namimori High School, and Yamamoto threw a curious look back at the entrance halfway into the courtyard. 'He's not guarding the gate today…'

-Future-

Gokudera woke up at 7 in the morning when a seemingly large object smashed into his door, the thump dissolving into continuous pounding. "Okay! Okay! I'm coming! Stop knocking!" he yelled, jumping out of bed and trudging irritably over to the door. He had finally just barely managed to fall asleep due to jetlag, and now some idiot decided to wake him up in such a manner. 'If it isn't something important, I'll…' He opened to the door to find Ryohei jumping up and down.

"Hey Octopus Head! Good morning!" he yelled loud enough to wake up the house.

"Did you realize that I just finally manage to fall asleep?" Gokudera screamed back, already half slamming the door in the Sun Guardian's face. However, Ryohei managed to catch the door before the other closed it. "What do you want?" the Storm Guardian hissed, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Uh… I forgot…" Ryohei said, suddenly looking quite blank.

Gokudera stared incredulously at him, wondering if dynamite or the cat would kill the Sun Guardian faster.

"Oh, I remember!"

'Lucky him…' Gokudera thought acidly.

"Yamamoto's missing!" the Sun Guardian exclaimed.

This response received another short period of completely dumbstruck behavior on Gokudera's part. "What?"

"I looked everywhere! I think he took off by himself!"

Gokudera put a hand to his head, groaning. "That idiot! Okay, do you have the address?"

"Uh… I kind of forgot…" Ryohei admitted, shifting uncomfortably.

The Storm Guardian sighed. "I'm going to pretend I didn't just hear that. Does Giannini have the address?"

"I think I accidentally deleted the file when I took it out of the system," Ryohei admitted nervously.

Gokudera gave Ryohei a blank stare, at lost for what to say. "How can both of you be such idiots!" he suddenly burst out. "If you haven't given him the address in the first place, he wouldn't have left!"

"But I saw him searching for it earlier!" Ryohei retorted.

"He what?" Gokudera had no idea Yamamoto would act so decisively with something like this.

"He would've found it eventually and left without tell us anyway."

"But we don't even know where the damn place is now!"

"We know what he's set out to do though," Ryohei said, shrugging.

"Do you really think he's that type of person?"

"Do you remember what happened after his father died?" Ryohei returned, shutting the other up.

"Ugh, I think I'm going back to sleep. _You_ go figure out where he is, since _you_ were the one who gave him the address." He slammed the door.

"Rest to the extreme before the next mission!" he heard through the wall.

Gokudera stopped, slamming a fist into the wall. "Yamamoto… you better come back in one piece or else the Tenth will never forgive me." He glanced at the picture frame on the bedside table.

"_What?" Gokudera looked from the picture to his sister's goggled face, confused._

"_Just take it," Bianchi told him, smiling sadly. "You guys never really did take a lot of pictures together, right?"_

_Gokudera shifted his gaze back at the photo. It was taken during their high school years during one of the firework festivals._

"_Thanks…"_

_Bianchi ruffled his hair, earning a growl from her younger brother. "I know how hard it is to lose someone you love…"_

_Gokudera didn't answer. Several days ago, they had received news of Reborn's death from the strange rays in the air, and now Tsuna was also gone, reportedly shot down by a surprise attack on the mansion he was staying at._

-Present-

"So, you're Yamamoto Takeshi right? The baseball prodigy?" one of the guys asked sarcastically as his friends withheld snickers. "We heard that you were a little under the weather recently."

'Ah, this isn't good,' Yamamoto thought when he realized that they were slowly surrounding him. He just had to tell Tsuna and Gokudera to go home without him today; he had stayed at school a little longer than usual to catch up on his baseball practice.

"Why don't you stop baseball for a bit? Take a rest," the guy suggested, grinning and flexing his fingers. "So, how about it?"

" Uh…" Yamamoto began, but the nearest one of them suddenly punched him in the stomach, cutting him off. He doubled over, gasping for air, before they all jumped on them, laughing. 'Ah, how'd I get myself into this mess?' Yamamoto recovered and in a flash, expertly grabbed his bat and swung with one fluid movement, effectively throwing off all six of them to the floor.

"Damn, he's too strong," one of the guys hissed, wiping some blood away from his split lip.

"Nonsense, it's six against one, and the brat's not the only one with a _weapon_," the leader of them said, brandishing a switchblade.

The nearest guy leapt at Yamamoto, but the natural-born hitman instinctively sidestepped and swung his bat at the guy's stomach, knocking him out. Two more came from behind, and he swung again; the bat turned into a katana and ran across the top of their hands, making them drop the blades.

"Sheesh, you guys are useless!" the leader took out a gun and fired; the Rain Guardian dodged that too, leaping to the side away from the path of the bullet.

"Boss!" a strained cry rang out in the air. Unfortunately for the punks, the bullet had found another target in the arm of one of the subordinates. Yamamoto looked at the blood slowly seeping out of the bullet hole, freezing.

"Tch," the punk aimed the gun at Yamamoto, who suddenly remembered that the fight wasn't over yet. He jumped to the side again, except this time one of them anticipated his actions and hand with a knife stood waiting at the spot his momentum was carrying him.

Another flash, this one black and white with a tinge of red and gold, slammed into the waiting danger, hurling the guy away with several broken ribs, as Yamamoto skidded safely to a halt. Their eyes met briefly, and he looked away, instead seeing the blood stained tonfa, which quickly disappeared with their owner.

Yamamoto fell to his knees, trying to calm his breathing as the head of the Disciplinary Committee wrecked havoc on the punks from the neighboring school, and the sound of breaking bones and metal on flesh sounded through the area. Soon, all six were running or limping away, yelling for their lives. Yamamoto looked down when Hibari, covered a little with spots of blood, walked over to him. The Rain Guardian closed his eyes, only to receive a blow across the face from the tonfa, surprisingly not strong enough to knock him completely on the ground.

"_You_," Hibari emphasized the word, "are not an herbivore. What do you think you're doing?" He stared the other down, eyes still burning with the heat of battle. Hibari wiped some of the splattered blood off his face with his sleeve, before hissing, "Pathetic." He walked away.

-Future-

'Looks exactly like the other one,' Yamamoto thought as he studied the building, checking the address again to make sure. 'Well,' he stood up, stretching. "Let's get started."

"Who's there?" one of the men that Yamamoto presumed was the leader of this particular warehouse group of grunts, yelled out when the Rain Guardian casually kicked the door down. The intruder didn't answer and instead glanced at the many scattered charts on the table.

"Planning to bomb one of our facilities?" Yamamoto asked as he grinned like it was a joke. "Or are you making some new weapon to hurt more people?"

"I… I don't know what you're talking about!" the man started.

"Will you surrender?" Yamamoto continued as if the man hadn't said anything. He figured he'd preserve at least this much of Tsuna's pacifist way of approaching conflicts.

"What do you… Of course not! We haven't done anything wrong!"

The façade fell, his eyes flashed dangerously, and Yamamoto deliberately drew his sword slowly, the men watching their reflections come and go on the blade of the katana. "Then you'll pay for what you did to Hibari…"

-Present-

The next day, Yamamoto found himself in front of the Disciplinary Committee room. Taking a breath, he entered, making sure not to look straight ahead since he knew that the other would probably be either sitting at the desk or lying on the sofa. As predicted, Hibari Kyoya was sitting behind the desk, shuffling through a stack of papers. He looked up when the Rain Guardian entered.

"I was wondering if I could treat you some sushi," Yamamoto said, shifting uncomfortably. Hibari raised an eyebrow at the sudden invitation. "As thanks for yesterday. Just drop by my family's shop anytime, okay?" He bowed quickly and left, effectively avoiding the other's eyes throughout the entire brief conversation.

Hibari stared at the closed door, contemplating the situation quietly as he returned to the paper he had in his hands, but his eyes no longer read the words.

-Future-

"What?" Gokudera gasped, starring at the chart Giannini had managed to pull out on the computer screen. The Storm Guardian had gotten up around 2 in the afternoon, finally awake enough to get changed and grab a bit of food before entering Giannini's workroom.

"Uh… apparently Yamamoto used the address Ryohei took from my computer to track down two other warehouses owned by the Incendio Gang."

"Gang?"

"They're still a small group, so at first I thought they wouldn't try anything against us, but we've had reports of bomb development and a mass accumulation of weapons."

"That might explain why they had all those guns," Gokudera said, thinking aloud.

"I've sent Ryohei and Lambo to check on two of the addresses Yamamoto took, so they'll contact us if they find him. Luckily, we kept a backup on our files, so there was no problem finding the locations," he sighed, shaking his head at Ryohei's stupidity.

Gokudera sighed, sitting down at a desk. "Okay. Man, that guy…"

Giannini began typing on the computer, scrolling through a mass of menus as Gokudera read through the reports.

"How's Hibari by the way?" the inventor suddenly asked out of the blue.

"Still breathing. He'd better still be breathing when Yamamoto gets back or else the Baseball Idiot will probably try something stupider than this," Gokudera hissed.

Giannini chuckled a bit. "Well, Kusakabe sent word to me that he'll be arriving today, so if Hibari wakes up, we won't be bitten to death too badly."

"Was that guy worried too?"

"Oh, he was quite worried, but compared to what I've heard from you and Ryohei about Yamamoto, probably not worried at all."

"I see…" Gokudera stared blankly at the report in front of him.

Meanwhile, Yamamoto lightly tossed a lit lighter on the floor as he walked away, wiping the blood off his katana with a piece of cloth and throwing that in the growing fire as well. He walked away, not even trying to avoid stepping on the random patches of blood on the floor.

-Present-

"Oh, so you're Hibari Kyoya," Tsuyoshi greeted him good-naturedly as the prefect entered the restaurant at eight o'clock that night. "It's quite late."

'He did tell me to come anytime,' Hibari thought irritably as the father walked around the counter, putting his apron back on.

"Sit anywhere you like; Takeshi's in the bath right now. I'll take your order," Tsuyoshi said cheerfully. Hibari wondered if that cheerful countenance ran in the family; the Yamamotos' tendency to crowd with herbivores was quite prominent.

Hibari stared at the menu in front of him, frowning. He began to regret taking the offer; free food wasn't as fun as food received through coercion. He sighed and decided to play along; it wasn't like Yamamoto was in any state to repay him in any other way, especially sparring.

"Thank you for the food," he muttered when he finished, half an hour later.

"No problem! Its thanks for helping Takeshi yesterday; speaking of which…" He looked up at the ceiling towards the second floor. "Where is he? Ah, excuse me for a few minutes; I'm going to check on him."

A few minutes later, Hibari heard a yell from upstairs, followed by splashing. He wondered if he should leave, but curiosity got the better of him, so he got up from his seat and tiptoed up the stairs.

"Ah, how can you be so careless?" Hibari heard Tsuyoshi's panicked voice from behind a door that he presumed to be Takeshi's room. A trail of water from the bathroom marked the Rain Guardian's prior location.

"Wait here! I'll go get something to cool you off!" Tsuyoshi said as he opened the door, nearly walking into Hibari. "Ah, you're still here! Can you try to cool him down; I have to get some ice." Not waiting for an answer, Tsuyoshi ran off. Hibari entered the room, taking care to not step on the wet patches on the floor. A pile of wet towels lay to the side, and the person in question was sprawled out on top of his futon in a loose white robe, breathing heavily. Yamamoto's face was a flushed red.

Hibari grabbed a paper fan lying on top of the shelf and half-heartedly fanned the Rain Guardian, who seemed to be coming back from his dazed delusion.

"Neh, Hibari, is that you?" he asked, squinting at the blurs in his vision as he slowly came back. Hibari didn't answer and instead continued his work. Yamamoto laughed. "Funny, I lost track of time in the hot tub and kind of passed out."

"Herbivore," Hibari muttered under his breath.

"Sorry," Yamamoto sighed, closing his eyes. "Really…"

'Is he delusional again?' Hibari thought.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't save you…"

Hibari stopped fanning, staring at him incredulously. 'Are those… tears?'

"Ah, why am I crying?" Yamamoto wiped his hands with the back of his hand, sniffing slightly. He chuckled, "Ah, sorry, you can leave now. You probably hate seeing people like this."

Hibari stared at the Rain Guardian; someone he had once thought could be a possible sparring partner was now reduced to a little crying herbivore. Yamamoto had hit the spot; Hibari really did hate situations like this where people couldn't contain their emotions. After all, Hibari himself was more or less mostly emotionless. And yet, he couldn't help but slightly forgive the Rain Guardian for at least attempting to regain his composure.

Resuming his fanning with one hand, he moved Yamamoto's hand away from his face. He frowned, the other had appeared to have stopped crying, but the drying trails of tears made his face sparkle. 'Pathetic…' He moved closer to study that face, feeling the other's uneven breathing tickle his nose. 'Tears in the way,' he wiped the remainder of the tears off Yamamoto's face with his sleeve.

"Neh, Hibari?" Yamamoto asked, but he ignored him. His hand moved to Yamamoto's chin; he remembered the older one had a scar on this exact location. He jolted when Yamamoto suddenly caught his hand. "There's no blood on you, right?"

"No…" Hibari answered, annoyed. "Even when there is, it isn't mine."

Yamamoto laughed a little. "Okay." He opened his eyes and squinted a little as everything came into focus in the bright light. He saw intense dark eyes, tainted with bloodlust and a hint of annoyance. He smiled.

Hibari found himself staring into those brown eyes. He recalled the many gazes of his past prey: some were narrow with hatred, most were wide with fear. Yamamoto's looked, for the most part at this point, normal. They held a little tinge of sadness mixed in with the look of a carefree baseball lover who values his friends above all else, and at the very core, a carnivore protector of herbivores, currently in danger of becoming an herbivore himself.

"Hey, you wouldn't have died, right?" Yamamoto asked him. "You're invincible?"

Hibari smirked. "Of course."

Yamamoto laughed. "I'm relieved."

Hibari frowned and wondered if he could somehow manipulate those eyes. After all, it was kind of because of him that they lost their normal goofy herbivore stare; he doubted that sadness would ever disappear. He learned in closer. If he suddenly whacked the other with his tonfa, would those eyes widen in pain and then open again with carefree laughter? However, he concluded that the other already laughed too much and decided to not follow suit with that option.

"Hibari?" Yamamoto suddenly snapped him out of his reverie, and he realized his face was a close four inches away from the other's.

Hibari jolted upward and away, which happened to be a millisecond before Tsuyoshi reentered the room, carrying some ice.

"Thanks a lot for fanning him!" Tsuyoshi said when he saw the fan in Hibari's hand. "Don't worry about him; I'll take care of him. You have Committee duties right?" Hibari nodded slightly in acknowledgement and half ran out of the room.

"Did you scare him away?" Tsuyoshi asked.

"No I didn't!" Takeshi retorted, as his blush deepened. "Hey, can you hand me ice please? I think I'm burning up again."

"What did you do, jump into the bath again?" his father frowned.

"Huh? No…"

-Future-

Yamamoto moved just as the man fired, although his body didn't dodge as quickly as he would have liked it to. He was tired; it had been a while since he'd rested, and with all the fighting he had been doing, his movements had become considerably slower. The bullet dug into his right side, ripping through a few muscles, and flew out his back, bouncing softly off the wall. He rolled behind a box to dodge the rest of the barrage of bullets, surveying the damage with a hand.

'Okay… cracked rib… no problem…' He closed his eyes, grasping his sword tighter. The firing stopped, and he could hear the shuffling of trembling feet as they closed in on him. He smiled. 'So this is what they meant by being able to smell fear, huh?' Yamamoto summoned his Rain Flames and opened his box, letting out the swallow. He heard the others momentarily get distracted by the appearance of the bird as he ushered his body up and took his stance, staring directly into the eyes of the nearest Incendio grunt.

'This should be the last of that group, right?' The Rain Flames built up around him, pouring around the enemy like a silent wave. 'Shigure Souen Style; Thirteenth Form…'

* * *

Okay, so I know Yamamoto has at least 11 forms for his Shigure Souen Style and by the time I finish this story, he might even have more than 13, so… uh… lol pretend it's a higher number if dear Yamamoto discovers another 2 forms?

I haven't started Chapter 4 yet as of right now, so it'll probably be up no later then… hm… let's make that Sunday? I know I'm over-guessing, but just in case lol!

Thanks for reading! See you in a bit!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

-Future-

"Did you find him?" Gokudera's worried voice asked as soon as the call went through.

"No, but the warehouse," Ryohei yelled into the phone just as the Storm Guardian remembered to keep the communication device at a minimum of two feet away from his ears, and now a stream of insults bombarded the phone from the other end. "It's gone! The fire burnt it down to the extreme!"

"Fire?" The insults immediately stopped.

"Yeah, all that's left is the framework; the fire trucks managed to stop the flames before it spread to the other buildings! But…" he paused, looking at the piece of metal he managed to salvage from the debris. Even now, he felt something strange about the substance and wondered if he should place it into a plastic bag instead of hold it with his bare hands.

"Spill it!" Gokudera exploded at him.

"I'll bring it back to the base so that you can take a look at it, okay?" Ryohei told him.

"Huh? Bring what back? Quit talking in fragments, Lawn Head!"

"I don't know. It looks like some kind of weapon, what remains of it, anyway. Yamamoto destroyed everything to the extreme!" The Storm Guardian wondered why the other just had to sound so happy whenever he talked about the condition of the warehouse.

Gokudera sighed. "Okay, get back here quickly then. Huh? Wait…" Ryohei heard talking in the background before the Storm Guardian returned to the phone. "Never mind, Giannini said he got the address of another warehouse that burned down last night. Can you check that place out before coming back? Lambo's still at his location."

"Yeah!" Ryohei accepted enthusiastically.

"Okay, we'll forward the directions to your phone in a few minutes."

Ryohei hung up, surveying the damage again. He whistled, frowning. "I thought Rain was supposed to calm people down." He shifted his gaze to the charred piece of metal in his hands again. "I guess it doesn't function properly without Hibari, eh?"

Meanwhile, the acting Vongola boss continued to glare at the phone in front of him, annoyed that the Sun Guardian had hung up on him so fast without even a word of goodbye. Then again, Gokudera assumed that Ryohei had just forgotten, like all the other times.

"Good thing there's only three warehouses, or I'll have to call him again," Gokudera hissed under his breath.

"We still have no leads on the break-in," Giannini pulled him out of his rampage of mental insults.

"Did they find out if anything was stolen?"

"According to the Vongola Library Staff, a book from the blueprints section… They're not sure what it's on though…"

Gokudera grumbled, "I told them to try to get everything organized as fast as possible. Just tell them to keep on looking."

"Got it."

-Present-

"What's wrong? You look horrible," Gokudera commented when Yamamoto ran up to them.

"Ah, I'm okay," the Rain Guardian assured them, grinning sheepishly.

"I find that hard to believe."

Yamamoto laughed, blushing. "I uh… kind of overheated in the bathtub last night."

As expected, Gokudera stared at him blankly for a few seconds before exploding. "What? How could you be so stupid?"

"Lost track of the time," he replied, chuckling.

"Ah, you should be more careful," Tsuna told him.

"Yeah! I'll remember next time! Oh, it wasn't that bad! Dad found me pretty fast, and Hi…" He decided now was a good time to change the subject. "So did you guys do the homework for first period today?"

"We didn't get homework… she told us that we had a test today, remember?" Tsuna answered, while trying to throw Gokudera glances of, "Don't say anything about Hibari."

"Ah! Oh well… I'll just wing it."

"Yeah, and fail! Here, read my notes!" Gokudera got Tsuna's hint and instead shoved a notebook at Yamamoto, who took one glance at the material and decided that he didn't even understand the first line.

As they neared the school Yamamoto paid special attention to the gate again; Hibari was not there.

-Future-

Lambo studied the building in awe when he approached it. 'Am I too late?' The entire area around the warehouse was covered in water, but the Thunder Guardian had checked the weather earlier: no rain.

He looked around the corner, searching for any signs of guards. 'Can't ever be too careful…' Seeing nothing, Lambo moved cautiously towards the opened doors of the warehouse only to find the guards. Well, he found two bodies, both with a clean cut at the throat, their fatal wounds.

"Yamamoto-san…" he mouthed, worried. He had known the Rain Guardian for a long time; Yamamoto played with him quite a lot when he was still donning his cow suit and afro, and quite frankly, Lambo didn't think the older man had the right mindset for a hitman of the mafia. He gulped, wondering if it was really Yamamoto he was looking for inside this water soaked warehouse probably full of more bodies like the two at the entrance.

Lambo moved quickly and found no need to hide; every single "person" he encountered was, to say the least, not standing. He couldn't fathom how Yamamoto had justified this kind of massacre, although he understood that things like this always happened when dealing with the mafia. 'Maybe he's finally fully into the mafia mindset?' Lambo asked himself, inwardly sighing. He didn't want Yamamoto to change, especially into an emotionless Hitman like those characterized in the movies. Reborn had been… merciless to a point, but then again, Lambo couldn't recall seeing the Arcobaleno in actual mafia action many times.

He saw a door to the side and decided he'd try his luck there. He turned the handle, opening it slowly. The door gave a loud creak as it opened, and suddenly Lambo heard the sound of metal from the other side.

"Duck!" someone yelled from behind him, and he obliged as a rain of bullets flew over his head from behind him. A yell from the interior of the room followed promptly after, and behind him, Yamamoto dropped the gun, sliding to the floor as he tried to calm his strained breathing.

"Ah! Yamamoto!" Lambo yelled, panicking, as he ran over to the Rain Guardian. Yamamoto had a makeshift bandage on his chest, but the blood had already soaked through long ago.

"Oh, hey Lambo!" Yamamoto greeted him cheerfully, to Lambo's surprise. The Thunder Guardian hadn't expected the other to retain his old personality after just killing someone. The swordsman chuckled. "I got a little careless, took a bullet to the side."

"Ah! We have to get you out of here!" Lambo said, ready to help his old friend to his feet.

Yamamoto held out a hand to stop him. "Wait, not yet."

"Huh?"

"Go check in that room first." He nudged his head towards the opened door behind Lambo.

"Why?"

With a little effort, Yamamoto reached into his pocket and pulled out a damp set of papers, luckily unstained by blood. "I took some of the blueprints from the other two warehouses, but I think there's still some left somewhere in here. I've checked everywhere; it has to be in that room."

"Ah…" Lambo closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. 'Tolerate… don't panic…' He stood up. "I understand."

Lambo walked back to the opened door, now riddled with bullets, and slowly pushed it all the way in. He let out his breath; the gunshots Yamamoto had fired did the trick. The man who could have killed Lambo now lay in a pool of his own blood, his body riddled with bullets, a gun resting next to him, unused. Biting his lip, the Thunder Guardian tiptoed around the dead man and headed for the lone desk in the dimly lit room.

"This is…" he stared at the charts in front of him, awed by the complexity of the weapon this seemingly small gang had managed to developed. Remembering that Yamamoto was still bleeding outside, he gathered the papers quickly and left the room.

"Did you find them?" Yamamoto asked as Lambo helped him to his feet.

"Yeah."

Yamamoto sighed in relief. "Well, mission complete then…"

"Wah! Don't faint on me! I can't carry you by myself!" Lambo burst out, panicking.

Yamamoto chuckled. "I'm not fainting." The two slowly limped out of the warehouse, and Yamamoto squinted at the daylight, looking around. "You don't happen to have a car do you?"

"Uh…"

Luckily for them, a car pulled up to them, and Kusakabe got out. "Giannini informed me of the situation," he told them.

"Ah, thanks," Yamamoto chuckled as they managed to get him into the backseat. He looked out the window as the car started moving, letting out a breath in relief. He closed his eyes. 'Hey Hibari, this is… this is what you would've done right? If someone dared to touch the one you care most about… you'd go and make them pay… even if… even if you don't want to… wait… that doesn't seem right… Hibari is…'

.

"What's wrong with you people? I said I don't treat men!" Shamal lamented when Lambo helped Yamamoto into the room.

He shook his head, pretending to be frustrated, as he sighed and put on some gloves before looking for the morphine.

"Wait," Yamamoto suddenly said, looking completely awake by now.

"What now?" Dr. Shamal asked, irritated.

"Uh…" the Rain Guardian chuckled a little awkwardly. "Do you think you can leave out the morphine?"

"Huh? Are you afraid of needles or something?" Dr. Shamal raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, no… just don't use it this time." Yamamoto looked completely serious, and the doctor didn't detect any presence of illicit substance usage in the other's eyes.

Shamal shrugged. "Whatever you say… It's going to hurt like hell though."

Yamamoto still kept on his smiling façade although the doctor could clearly see the sweat trickling down the side of his face from the pain, which the Rain Guardian had no doubt endured for quite a long time from the amount of blood that had leaked out of the loosening crude bandages. "I'll be fine."

-Present-

A paper airplane flew across the room, meeting its demise in the form of a wall as it collided with the paint and succumbed to gravity. Hibari stared absentmindedly at the crinkled piece of paper from his desk, his feet casually resting on the smooth wooden surface. He closed his eyes, sliding his legs off the desk and whirling the chair around to face the window.

"Kyou-san?" a familiar voice called out uncertainly when the door opened. Earning a faint grunt of acknowledgement from his superior, Kusakabe looked to the side and found the source of the soft clunk he had heard earlier. He picked up the airplane and unfolded it. "It's not normal for you to waste paper," he commented.

"The others had writing on them," Hibari replied.

It took a mountain of effort for the Vice-President of the Disciplinary Committee not to add, "But this one also has writing on it." Sprawled neatly in the middle of the paper, Hibari's writing was always neat, surprisingly, was the name, "Yamamoto Takeshi."

"Um… what do you want me to do with this?"

"Throw it away." Hibari yawned. "If you came in here just to complain about my usage of my school's paper, then leave. I'm going to take a nap."

"Ah, I just needed to drop this off." Hibari heard the other deposit a stack of files on his desk. "Have a nice nap, Kyou-san." He left.

Hibari turned his chair slightly so that he could survey the amount of paperwork he had to skim later and found the unfolded airplane on top. He picked it up, glaring at the name on the sheet of paper.

Brown eyes stared back at him. For the tenth time since last night, the Cloud Guardian remembered staring straight into those eyes, dissecting every last ounce of emotion out of them. He had seen quite a strange combination of conflicting personas, but the one personality he wanted to see most was not there. He bit his lip a little, frowning. He wanted to see, wanted to face that hidden lust for blood head on in a fight, carnivore against carnivore.

He wanted to strike at those eyes with his tonfa and have them blocked instinctively with a katana. He wanted to dance in a swirl of blurred clothing, metal and skin. He stopped, remembering the look of fear Yamamoto had given him after returning from the future. But, this was far from the type of fear Hibari was used to seeing; this was fear for another with complete disregard for self-preservation. Hibari hated it. He didn't need nor want anyone worrying over his own well-being since he knew he could perfectly take care of himself. He sighed, deciding that he'd find the Rain Guardian later and show him who exactly Yamamoto should be worried about.

His hands tightened on the piece of paper. "What kind of herbivore finds fun in folding these things?" He returned the doomed piece of paper into its airplane form and chucked it out the window with a frustrated swing of the arm and watched it float away.

"Uh..." The plane glided gracefully across the sakura tree-lined courtyard only to smack into the back of the head of the one whose name is written on it.

-Future-

"Yo," Gokudera said as he entered the room.

"Hey," Yamamoto greeted him from the bed, only managing to turn his head slightly.

"I thought you'd be visiting Hibari as soon as Dr. Shamal patched you up." He closed the door, walking over to the bed and deciding to use the infirmary beside table as a chair.

"Ah… maybe later," Yamamoto laughed a little. "I think I'll just lie here for a few hours…"

Gokudera frowned. "Dr. Shamal told me you passed on the morphine. What's up?"

"Eh… just didn't feel like it," came the strange reply.

"Didn't feel like it?" Gokudera repeated, aghast. "How the hell can you not feel like taking morphine? Look at you! You're in so much pain right now that you can't even move! What are you, a masochist? Did you even let Ryohei look at it?"

Yamamoto chuckled. "Ah, no…"

"Then why?" Gokudera demanded.

The Rain Guardian looked away, muttering something. The Storm Guardian looked for a color change on the other's face but found none, only a sad frown was present.

"Hey, speak louder," Gokudera told him.

"I want to feel what he's feeling. It must hurt so much…" Yamamoto said again.

Gokudera stared at him for a second before exploding. "You're crazy! The only reason Dr. Shamal didn't waste any morphine on Hibari was because the idiot's knocked out to begin with!"

The other chuckled. "Maybe I am."

The Storm Guardian shook his head. "Look, you're not Hibari. Just because he can take having half the bones in his body broken and not show it doesn't mean you can. You two are two different people."

"I know… but…" Yamamoto sighed. "I… I don't know…" he admitted.

Gokudera sighed. "Wow… was I ever this deeply in love?"

"You tell me."

"Wait, I'm not losing to you. Of course I was," Gokudera answered confidently.

They laughed a little before letting silence fill the room again. After a while, Yamamoto spoke again. "You know… I thought that it'd help… but it's just like last time…"

Gokudera stared at him for a few seconds. "Hasn't anyone ever told you revenge doesn't do anything?"

Yamamoto laughed. "Yeah, but I still wanted to do something. Besides, this is for our pride right? We finished the reconnaissance mission at the end."

"You went all out this time though. I don't think I can recall one time that you killed when it wasn't a last resort."

Yamamoto bit his lip. "Did you see?"

"No, I got the call from Ryohei. He looked up the first two locations."

"Ah I see… Did Lambo give Giannini the papers?"

"Yeah, he's looking them over now. Don't worry about it."

They became quiet again. "I wonder if Hibari would've done the same for the person he loves," Yamamoto said after a while.

Gokudera snorted. "Well, if you look at him and Namimori, then there's no question about it."

Yamamoto smiled, closing his eyes. "Ah, that's true."

.

"Ah, now this is strange..." Giannini muttered as he prodded the metal with a rod. Gokudera waited as the scientist turned to the blueprints Yamamoto and Lambo had extracted from the three warehouses, frowning. "It appears to be some kind of Flame absorbing material similar to the bullets Xanxus uses."

"What would they do with this type of material? It's not like they have any people who could actually muster enough Flames."

"Ah, you see, when you and the others fight, you project your Flames into your weapons, right?"

"Obviously," Gokudera returned.

"Well, this kind of material seems to force the Flames out, so if you have even a small amount of Flame inside your body, physical contact with this will pull it right out. This must be what Ryohei was talking about earlier when he said he felt something strange about the metal. It was attempting to pull his Sun Flames out."

"Oh great, so now they want to drain us of our Flames," Gokudera sighed.

"Something like that. I can't imagine how they would use it in battle though. So many possibilities..."

The Storm Guardian raised an eyebrow. "You seem enthusiastic about it."

"Ah," Giannini said, chuckling nervously. "We inventors are like that." He looked back at the metal. "If they do manage to perfect the design… I wonder…"

.

"Lady Uni," Gamma bowed as he entered the room.

"Oh, I told you not to do that!" she told him, frowning indignantly.

Gamma smiled and stood up. "My apologies."

"How was your mission?" she asked him.

"We've managed to successfully reestablish negotiations with the Fuoco Family."

"Ah, that's good. Did they agree to meet again?"

"Actually they…" he froze, and turned his head ever so slightly to the side so that he could get a good look at the window.

"What's wrong?"

"Someone's here…" he muttered, his hand tightening on his weapon.

* * *

Ack! I have more ideas for the TYL than for the present! Um, so the story would probably progress with a lot of stuff happening in the TYL part and the present happening nice and slow… It's not too much trouble right? (Insert puppy eyes.)

Next chapter will be sometime next week? My weekend's a little busy... test on Monday yay!

Oh, and I'm pretty bad with names, so right now… I'm just naming the new gangs and mafia families randomly… well mostly randomly. Incendio – fire (in a building), Fuoco – fire (combustion). Yay for fire!

Anyways, until next time, and thank you very much if you enjoyed the story so far and reviewed XD!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

Warnings for this chapter: Uh… blood? Exploding people… well, the thought of it is kind of gross…

For now I'm going to completely split the two time zones into two sections of each chapter, because I feel like it's ruining the mood a little if the other time period just suddenly pops up lol. So… it'll kind of be two fics going on at the same time?

* * *

-Present-

"Wah!" Yamamoto yelled as the airplane collided with the back of his head and fell harmlessly to the floor. "Ow…" he rubbed the probable bruise as the other two turned around.

"Wow, someone in the school has good aim," Gokudera laughed when he saw the fallen plane.

Yamamoto turned around just in time to see a flash of black move away from a curtained window several floors up in the main building. 'Isn't that… the Disciplinary Committee room?' He bent down and picked up the airplane, unfolding it.

"You know people use trash paper to fold airplanes…" Gokudera warned him. "Who knows where that's been."

"It has my name on it!"

The Storm Guardian's smirking countenance immediately transformed to one of curiosity. "What? Let me see that!" The three stared at the neatly written kanji in the middle of the paper. "It's so neat; must be one of your secret admirers," Gokudera teased him, nudging Yamamoto.

Yamamoto chuckled. "But why would she throw an airplane at me?"

The Storm Guardian shrugged and started walking. "Beats me. Let's go home already."

"Are you going to keep it?" Tsuna asked.

Yamamoto stared at the paper for a second before tucking it inside his bag, grinning. "Just for now. I'm curious!"

.

'Imagine this was Hibari's…' Yamamoto leaned his head on his desk, staring at the airplane. "Nah, he wouldn't fold paper airplanes," he chuckled. "That would be weird." The image of the school prefect, the most dangerous guy in school, folding an airplane with his delicate pale hands flashed through his mind, and Yamamoto buried his face in his hands, blushing.

"What's happening to me?"

"Lovesick?" his father suddenly offered behind him.

"Wah!" Yamamoto fell off his chair in surprise, his blush deepening. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Ah, sorry," Tsuyoshi said, grinning. "So who's the girl?"

"Not…" He bit his lip. "Not a girl."

"Huh?"

"So I'm definitely not love struck!" Yamamoto asserted.

Tsuyoshi looked at the airplane on the desk, grinning. "Sure looks like it." He picked up the paper, examining its contents before his son could say or do anything to stop him. "Wow, the writing's neat."

"The airplane has nothing to do with it!" Yamamoto said, obviously lying.

"Does it? You were staring at it quite intently."

"I was just thinking!" his son insisted.

His father grinned knowingly and decided to leave it at that for today. "Well, go to sleep early; you need to rest more," Tsuyoshi told him before leaving.

"Okay Dad!" Yamamoto called after him before returning to his task of staring at the crinkled sheet of paper. 'Maybe… I've fallen for him?' he suddenly thought, and his smile fell a little as a result. "Impossible," he said out loud, leaning his chair backwards so that it rested on two legs. 'There's no way I'm in love with Hibari. It's just guilt… Yeah…' he reassured himself. Nevertheless, he took the sheet of paper and carefully placed it in the top drawer for safekeeping before turning off the lights and crawling into his futon for a good night's worth of sleep.

'Just guilt…'

.

"So have you found out the name of your mystery stalker yet?" Gokudera asked the next day on the way to school.

"Nope!" Yamamoto said, grinning.

"Ah ha! So you were curious!" he accused.

"What's wrong with being curious?" the Rain Guardian asked innocently.

"You never seemed to be curious about which girl liked you before."

"Ah, that's right…" Tsuna muttered. Indeed, his two guardians were so popular that they rarely spent time thinking about whose attention they attracted within the school's many females; dating was, for some strange reason, not entirely on their minds. Earlier that year, Tsuna had thought about these things while lamenting his own unpopularity until he finally came upon the conclusion that Gokudera considered the mafia the top priority, while Yamamoto had baseball as his sole replacement for relationships.

Yamamoto shrugged in response to the two's prodding. "You're right about that, but... It's not a girl," he said thoughtfully before realizing what his words might have implied to the other two.

"Huh?" Gokudera burst out. "What, you mean you have a male admirer?"

Yamamoto chuckled nervously. "Ah, no... I meant... uh..."

"Who is it?"

"Uh… oh... uh… Good morning, Hibari!" Yamamoto suddenly said, perking up. They had reached the school gate.

'No... way...' Gokudera and Tsuna thought in unison, but the school prefect showed no signs of what they suspected and instead gave them all a bored stare.

"I... uh..." Yamamoto glanced at the others pleadingly, soundlessly attempting to tell them to go on without him.

'I hope you know what you're doing,' Tsuna mouthed and then dragged Gokudera by the sleeve away, leaving the two alone.

"If you want to stay here until you're late and get bitten to death, be my guest," Hibari told him.

"Ah... I just wanted to thank you. For the fanning..." he added when the other didn't seem to remember. He laughed awkwardly. "Ah, I always seem to be in debt to you."

Hibari considered him for a moment before moving from his place at the wall, walking past Yamamoto towards the building, "Then do something about it," he whispered just as he passed the swordsman, jacket trailing.

"Like what?" Yamamoto called after him.

"Rooftop. After school."

"Huh?"

"You don't have practice today, right?"

Yamamoto watched as Hibari disappeared into the school before realizing he had a minute before the first bell.

'I have practice though…'

.

As Hibari had predicted, practice was canceled, due to some obscure reason that was probably the work of the Disciplinary Committee, and now Yamamoto was left with his baseball bat as he stood in front of the door to the rooftop, contemplating if he should really meet the skylark. Yamamoto took a deep breath before he turned the handle.

"Anyone up here?" he called out when he didn't see the prefect in immediate sight. A change in the wind answered for him as he drew out his bat and effectively blocked a blow from a tonfa to the right. "Ah, so a fight as payment," Yamamoto said, chuckling.

Hibari smirked and swung with his other tonfa in response. The swordsman jumped back, pivoting on his foot before returning for the offense. However, getting the skylark to switch into defensive was harder than he thought as Hibari already prepared his next attack, jumping behind him and sending a wave of pain down his back with a blow. Yamamoto ended up face down on the giant tiled floor, wondering how pathetic it must have seemed, falling so quickly.

"Yamamoto Takeshi… your bat..." Yamamoto heard as he slowly got to his feet, muscles tense and prepared for any further beating.

"Huh?"

"Why didn't you change it?" Hibari demanded, glaring at him.

"Oh uh... I don't, unless it's completely necessary?" he replied, chuckling. "I don't really fight often."

Hibari stormed up to him, pressing a tonfa to his neck. "Who do you take me for?"

"Ah, I'm sorry," Yamamoto replied quickly. He really hadn't thought much of it, but apparently Hibari really wanted this to be a serious fight between two near professional hitmen or whatever he considered himself. However, Yamamoto looked at his bat, feeling a little queasy about the idea of having something capable of killing in his hand while fighting Hibari. No doubt, some blood would be involved, and at the back of his mind, the memory started to reappear as he fought to push it away. 'No. I'm already okay... yeah...' he told himself as his hand tightened around the bat.

"Friday," Hibari's annoyed voice suddenly snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What?" he began, but the prefect had already left, slamming the door behind him.

-Future-

Yamamoto stopped to breathe, leaning against the wall as he held a hand to his side in an attempt to stifle the piercing pain that struck with each step. He grinned at his own stupidity and finally decided to let a small portion of the Rain Flames flow into the wound, numbing it. 'Just until I get to his room…' he told himself.

He trudged down the hallway, sighing in relief when he finally reached his destination. He put a sweaty hand on the doorknob and turned quietly, slipping inside before anyone noticed. Dr. Shamal had told him to rest, but the Rain Guardian found it impossible after three hours of lying awake in the infirmary with nothing to entertain himself except his own thoughts and that one visit from Gokudera.

"Should've known you'd still be sleeping," Yamamoto chuckled as he quietly closed the door behind him. The doctors had been sensible enough to leave the chair that Yamamoto dragged over during his last visit in its displaced location, allowing the Rain Guardian to save some of his energy. He sat down, and the wound at his side burnt even more from the strain of having to bend.

"Hey, I completed our mission," he told the sleeping Guardian, grinning. "So your record's still as perfect as usual." He allowed his head to fall so that he was resting on the edge of the mattress, far enough from Hibari so that he wouldn't be sleeping on top of him. Yamamoto looked sideways at the calm breathing and the slow rising and falling of the sheets. "Hey… when are you going to wake up?"

Outside, a little yellow bird tapped lightly on the window before settling on a nearby branch and singing a song foreign to Italy but familiar to the Rain Guardian. Yamamoto's ears perked up when he heard Namimori's anthem and walked over to the window, letting the bird in.

"Haven't seen you in a while," the Rain Guardian told it, smiling. "Ah, you must be hungry. Let me go get you some food."

Hibird, however, continued to fly around the room, notably in a giant circle around Hibari, as it chirped excitedly, "Hibari! Hibari!"

He walked over to the Cloud Guardian in question, wondering if the bird had sensed something, having finally shown up after several days away from its master, which was rare.

.

Gamma threw Uni to the ground as a bullet came flying throw the window, embedding into the opposite wall. In an instant, the outside guards took out the shooter, only to fall victim to another barrage of bullets.

"Impossible…" Gamma took out his Box Weapon and summoned the two thunder foxes, forming a barrier just as another rain of bullets came down on them. To his surprise, as each bullet made contact with the wall of Thunder Flames, a portion of his Flames disappeared, absorbed by the little cartridges. He managed to move both of them out of the room just as the bullets connected with the floor, exploding into little waves of electricity.

"Found you!" they heard Nosaru's voice outside and suddenly the firing stopped as the other took out the new wave of men.

Gamma nodded to Uni, who quickly ran down the hallway to rally the other fighters in the mansion. The Thunder Flame user walked back into the destroyed room and jumped out of the shattered window, his pool stick ready to kill.

"Out scouts have spotted at least a dozen more," Tazaru muttered, readying his scythe as Gamma slowly moved into the forest, following Nosaru, ears alert.

"Did you see the bullets?" he whispered back.

"Yeah, they absorbed your barrier… Hey Nosaru, look out!"

The Storm Flame user moved just in time to avoid taking a bullet to the chest, and the object just barely grazed his shoulder. However, the two others watched on in blatant disbelief as the Storm Flames Nosaru had summoned suddenly disappeared, and the bullet hit a nearby tree, disintegrating it in a display of red Storm Flames.

In a flash, Gamma sent a wave of electrified billard balls into the bushes, earning several cries as they connected with their targets, as Tazaru ran over to the injured fighter.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"What the hell? My Flames just got sucked right out!" Nosaru groaned and tried to get up. He stumbled and decided to stop trying. "I need a few minutes…"

"Okay, we'll cover you," Gamma told him as four footmen joined them, guns ready. "Have you confirmed who's attacking us?" he asked one of them.

"Yes. They're from the Fuoco Family."

"Damn." Gamma grimaced, bringing more Thunder Flames into his weapon. Another shot rang out from the bushes and Tazaru jumped in, slicing the man's throat with his scythe. Gamma turned around to see one of the four footmen on the floor with a bullet imbedded in his chest, writhing. "Hang on!"

"Get… away…" the man gasped as the color drained from his face, and his body seemed to wrinkle and shrink. Gamma could distinctly see little flickers of purple in the bullet wound.

'Cloud Flames… If I remember correctly… the ability is… Propagation? Oh shi…' He jumped back in time as an explosion of condensed material, notably a rain of blood and other biological substances Gamma really didn't want to think about at the moment, flew through the area from the bullet embedded inside the dying man.

.

Hibari's eyes opened, just barely, but they were open. Hibird happily landed on the table next to him, chirping his name, and the Cloud Guardian smiled sleepily, holding out a finger to stroke the animal.

"Hibari?" a new voice suddenly distracted him from his task. Everything came back to him in a whirlwind of memories: the sound of bullets on concrete, bullets on wood, bullets on flesh. The voice was shaky, desperate, and relieved at the same time, and before he could think another thought, the unthinkable happened; the Rain Guardian was hugging him, the cords from the many machines attached to him stretching as his body was lifted just slightly from the bed.

"Hibari…" Yamamoto repeated his name, and Hibari could feel the other trembling, no doubt probably wetting the back of his hospital gown with the traitorous tears that he hated seeing. The embrace was gentle; Yamamoto still had enough sense to not cause the Cloud Guardian to lose any more blood from reopened wounds. If Hibari had been just slightly more asleep that he was now, he would've welcomed the gentle warmth and went straight back to his dream world without a second thought. However, right now, the first thought that struck his mind was that a grown man, Yamamoto, was supplying this warmth through an action only exclusive to herbivores.

As thus, Hibari feebly pushed Yamamoto away, managing to say, "What are you doing?" through his oxygen mask. To his surprise, his furious, yet extremely weak, attempt at biting the Rain Guardian to death, even without his tonfa, led to a flinch on Yamamoto's part. At first, he thought that he had hurt the other's feelings and prepared the necessary insult, but then he noticed that the other suddenly had a hand at the very spot Hibari had pushed.

Hibari had the ability to sense fear pulsing from people, and the fear that came from Yamamoto now drew the Cloud Guardian completely away from the sleeping world, and he tried to sit up, ripping off the oxygen mask in the process with one hand and propping his aching body up with his other elbow. By this time, Yamamoto was pale and panting slightly, teeth clenched from the pain unknown to Hibari.

"Yamamoto Takeshi, what…"

"Ah… sorry…" The Rain Guardian gave him a forced grin in response and then fell to his knees, forehead leaning on the side of the bed for support. He tried speaking again but only managed a groan. Grimacing, Hibari forced his aching body to sit up and found the emergency button, thankfully located close to his bed.

.

"Okay, put him on screen," Gokudera told Giannini. He nearly jumped back in surprise when a familiar face stared back at him, half covered in blood and stuff he'd not rather ask about.

"It's been a while," Gamma greeted him nonchalantly. "Last time I saw you, you were this short," he motioned with his hand."

"Well, you look like you've lost pieces of yourself," the Storm Guardian retorted. "So what do you want?"

"Oh, don't worry. The blood's not mine, so I'm not going to die today. Anyway, we've been attacked."

Gokudera raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Are you blaming us already?"

"Not at all. I was actually hoping that you could lend us a hand." The screen moved a bit and Gokudera found himself staring at Lady Uni, who looked, for the most part, clean and not too banged up save form a scrape on the knee.

"Hello, Gokudera-san," she greeted him, smiling.

"Uh… hi," he replied. "So what happened over there?"

"We were about to start negotiations with the Fuoco Family when we were attacked. We've managed to take control of the situation for now, but we request a little favor from you."

"Do you want us to send some of our guys over?" he offered.

"Nah, that's not the problem," Gamma spoke again. "They're using some kind of strange bullet, but our facilities aren't advanced enough at this point to examine them. I was hoping to transport what's left of the stuff to your scientists." He grimaced. "I believe this will definitely benefit both of our families."

"May I ask how?" Gokudera asked. He really wasn't ready for another all out mafia war and decided to play along for now, at least until the other party really showed definite signs of intentional harm for Vongola. True, Tsuna was gone now, but that gave the Storm Guardian even more of a reason to preserve what his boss had left behind.

"Well, we both use Flames a lot, don't we? It'd be inconvenient if our enemies started using bullets that sucked the Flames right out of you and then…" he pointed at some of the drying blood on his face. "This was from one of our men who had Cloud Flames, and he wasn't even strong enough to summon them."

"Wait, that's…" Giannini gasped.

"Huh? You know of this?"

"We've recovered some blueprints from a small gang that was developing a Flame-absorbing metal that we thought might be for a bomb or something. They were eliminated last night."

"Ah, the Incendio Gang, right?"

Gokudera's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

"It's actually a small branch of the Fuoco Family we were _attempting_ to negotiate with."

"So Fuoco was the one that attacked you?"

"Unfortunately. I was hoping that you'll take a look at the bullets. We can send you our men that were killed by them for autopsies… well what's left of them anyway. You might want to prepare a few scientists who don't easily get queasy."

Gokudera grimaced. "Okay, thanks. I'll send Ryohei over for now then. He might be able to take care of some of the injured."

"Thanks. We'll be waiting." The screen went blank.

"Are you sure it's wise to trust him?" Giannini asked.

"I don't think he's the one we should be worried about. Contact Spanner and Irie; they might be able to help." He saw the inventor's face fall a little. "Oh come on, do you want to be alone in a room with bodies?"

That did the trick. "Ah… I'll contact them."

.

Gokudera took a deep breath, preparing himself, before he entered the hospital room. As he predicted, the Cloud Guardian was already sitting up despite his many wounds and currently flipping through a book as if he were reading it, but the Storm Guardian noted that the other's eyes remained at the same location during turn of each page.

"Glad to know you're awake," Gokudera greeted him, his tone completely contrasting his words.

Hibari put down the book and looked him in the eyes. Gokudera could never get used to that stare; that almost suffocating aura of bloodlust had indeed lessened somewhere along the last ten years, but the eyes were just as, if not more, dangerous than ever. The Storm Guardian dropped his gaze.

"Look, if you're worried about Yamamoto, he'll live. The idiot didn't take painkillers or let Ryohei close the wound, so while he was here talking to you, he almost bled himself dry," Gokudera explained, annoyed. "He'll be fine; we knocked him out and got Ryohei to heal him."

"Was it from the mission?" Hibari asked, his "attention" returning to his book.

"Well, after you got yourself blown halfway to hell, Yamamoto went and pretty much eliminated the Incendio Gang. All three warehouses and whoever was unfortunate enough to be there."

Gokudera saw a hand tighten on the book and smirked. "So you two are still getting your pay, happy?"

"You didn't answer my question," Hibari replied.

Gokudera sighed, thinking how dealing with the Cloud Guardian was a real pain in the ass. "Someone shot him during the last mission. From what I've heard, the bullet went straight through, and he still didn't want to get it patched up. That idiot…" When Hibari didn't respond, the Storm Guardian shrugged and began to leave. "Well, don't worry about him too much. Compared to your wounds, his was nothing. Although, not treating it correctly didn't help him much."

"I wasn't worried. I was merely curious," Hibari said after him.

Gokudera waved a backward goodbye. "Yeah, yeah. Just hurry up and recover or else that idiot's going to freak out again. We've just got word that something big might be coming up soon."

Hibari watched as the door closed behind the Storm Guardian and looked down at the book in front of him, slowly letting out the breath he was holding. Hibird flew in from the window and settled in the Cloud Guardian's hair, chirping contently now that Hibari was finally awake.

"I'll get you some seeds…"

* * *

Thanks! Ganbarimashita XD. Actually my test was on Japanese he he. Awesome, awesome class! I'm so glad I decided to take it.

^.^ I'm so happy that you're enjoying this story! Thank you for so much for reading!

Okay, so as I'm writing this, the manga/anime is progressing. (Gah! More Hibari XD I'm so happy!) I'm attempting to kind of not contradict the series, but if something pops up suddenly, say… I don't know… it turns out that everyone's actually animal spirits inhabiting human bodies, and I've already completely overlooked the fact, I don't think I'm going to go back and change it because it'll kill everything. (Just in case XD.) Hm… animal spirits… jkjk lol that was just the first totally weird example that popped into my head.

Next chapter will be up Sunday at the latest. Till next time!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

-Future-

"You might want step back a little," Irie told the others.

"Is it really necessary to transport the remains here?" Giannini asked, twiddling his fingers nervously.

"It can't be helped; all of our tools are in this base, not theirs," Spanner answered for the other inventor.

Gokudera stood nearby, tapping his foot impatiently, wondering if it was really a good idea for him to stay in the room when he was not needed. Was it really worth his time to watch a pile of human remains materialize inside the Vongola main laboratory? He recalled the conversation he had earlier with Ryohei, which didn't help much with his anticipations.

"_Hello!"_

_Gokudera remembered to keep the phone far enough from his ear this time. "How is the situation over there?"_

"_We've recovered about six bodies. Those bullets really kill to the extreme!"_

_The Storm Guardian wondered how the other could always put on such an excited front even in the face of such a serious situation. "Wait, what do you mean by about?"_

"_Well, for example, there's this one pile where we couldn't tell if it was one or two…"_

"_Okay! Okay!" Gokudera cut him off, groaning. Giannini would just love to hear that his next job would be an autopsy of a pile of blood and bones. "How are the injured over there?" he decided to ask instead._

"_There are a lot of them. Not a lot dead, but a lot injured to the extreme."_

"_Critical?"_

"_Three out of the five I've treated so far told me just to kill them, but we managed to stabilize them. There's still a lot though."_

"_Okay, I'll leave that to you then. Send us the coordinates for the dead as soon as possible, and don't move them!"_

"_Got it!" Ryohei hung up._

Hibari and Kusakabe stood in the corner of the room; the former had surprisingly walked in a few minutes prior, arms crossed impatiently. The Cloud Guardian didn't show it, but Gokudera was fairly certain that most of the bullet wounds hadn't properly closed yet. He grimaced to himself at the thought, not wanting to deal with another Yamamoto spectacle.

Hibari had, for the lack of a better word, half-changed into his usual suit, or rather, he left out the jacket and tie and didn't bother to button the top half of his untucked purple collared shirt, which only added to Gokudera's suspicions of the pain the other must still be feeling under the bit of bandages visible where Hibari had left his shirt unbuttoned.

'This is like a movie or something…' Gokudera thought, wishing that Irie would finish already.

"Ok," Irie suddenly said as if he heard the other's thoughts. "In three… two… one…" He pressed the button, and the room exploded in light.

"Gah!" Giannini yelled out when the light cleared and a scene of blood greeted them. As Ryohei had reported, six bodies were transported over, two of which were literally just piles of flesh.

Irie shivered and looked away, feeling a nervous stomach ache coming on, while Spanner eyed the remains thoughtfully. "This is… interesting…"

"Hm?" Irie suddenly said as he recovered from the nauseous sensation in his throat and ran over to the computer with a large overhead screen in the room. "Gamma's on the other end," he told Gokudera, who nodded.

"Did they get there in one piece?" Gamma asked as soon as his face popped up on screen.

"More or less," Gokudera replied, wrinkling his nose in disgust; the smell was horrendous.

"Well, we've managed to identify which of our men are missing. Two Cloud, two Storm, one Rain, and one Thunder…"

"Then…"

"Your two piles of shit over there were our Cloud Flame users."

"Ah, so these two…" Spanner motioned to two of the bodies with badly disintegrated torsos, "must be the Storm Flame users; am I correct?"

"Ah, you're fast."

"And the half burnt one was the Thunder Flame while the peacefully sleeping one was the Rain Flame wielder," Irie concluded with a spark of realization. "Are the bullets still in them?"

"Yes. We haven't touched them after we made sure that they were dead."

"Then…" Irie sighed, straightening up. "Give us a few hours. We'll contact you again."

"Thanks. We'll send you the data on the six when things calm down a little more over here." The screen went blank.

"You guys figure stuff out fast…" Gokudera muttered.

"We'll need some hands on research," Irie replied, taking a deep breath. "Do you think you can leave us for a few hours? I'll contact you when we're done."

"Got it. We're counting on you." Gokudera moved to leave, finding that Hibari and Kusakabe were already walking out the door of the lab. 'Man… that could've been him…' he frowned. 'What would Yamamoto have done then?'

.

"What? You're walking around already?" Yamamoto commented, frowning. "So not fair…"

"If you had listened to the doctors, you'd be too," Hibari answered, leaning casually against the doorway, arms crossed. Out of concern, the others had conveniently strapped the Rain Guardian down to the bed for the time being with two belts over the blankets. "You look pathetic."

Yamamoto chuckled, almost blurting out, 'You look hot,' when he noticed Hibari's deviation from his usual neatly arranged attire. "Well… want to help me out?"

"If you promise you won't impulsively jump on me like you did earlier, I'll consider it."

"Okay, okay, I promise!" Yamamoto answered, grinning. To his surprise, the Cloud Guardian actually moved from his place at the wall and walked over to the bed, studying the lower of the two straps over the white blanket. "Uh… they wanted to make sure I didn't go anywhere…"

Hibari found the buckle and began working on it, tugging at the heavy leather strap as Yamamoto looked away, anticipating the other to bite him to death as soon as he was free and trying to remember where they had put his sword earlier before knocking him out.

"Earlier…" Hibari's voice distracted him from his thoughts, and he looked back at the Cloud Guardian, whose face was obscured by a few strands of hair.

"Ah," Yamamoto immediately understood what the other was referring to. "I… I was just relieved that you finally woke up, that's all. Sorry… it won't happen again."

"I see…" The strap dropped limply to the floor, and Hibari stood up. Yamamoto had a full view of his face, and instead of finding the usual impassive bored expression, the Rain Guardian detected something strange, different and just downright unfitting for the strongest of the six guardians. The other seemed to have noticed Yamamoto's curious stare and put a hand over his face, trying to straighten out whatever strange expression he had. "I have some matters to attend to," Hibari muttered. "Get some sleep."

"Ah, but I…" However, Hibari already had the tonfa in his hand and was halfway through the swing when the Cloud Guardian realized that a blow to the stomach would most likely reopen the wound. He stopped just inches away and left before Yamamoto could even figure out what was going on.

'Did he just… What's with that face?' Yamamoto realized that Hibari had deliberately left the top buckle alone, and as a result, he was still stuck on the bed due to his inability to use his hands. "Aw…"

.

"Hey Baseball Idio… How the hell did you…" Gokudera ran over to him, picking up the abandoned strap. He stared at it for a few seconds before laughing. "You tried to get Hibari to let you out, didn't you?"

"Ah, I'm caught," Yamamoto grinned. "Do you think you can undo the top one now? It's kind of annoying; I accept the fact that I just can't sleep." He laughed when the other glared at him. "I promise I won't go out fighting on my own until my wound is healed."

Gokudera shook his head, sighing, and undid the top strap, letting it fall to the floor. The Rain Guardian happily sat up, stretching.

"Hey don't reopen that wound."

"I'm not!" Yamamoto retorted. "Besides, Ryohei's almost fully healed it."

"He said not to move overdo it for a few days, idiot!"

"Ah, okay okay!"

"Sheesh…" Gokudera lit a cigarette, taking in the nicotine.

"Ah, so what did I miss?" Yamamoto asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Uh… I don't know… gut feeling?"

Gokudera sighed. "Actually, you missed a lot."

Yamamoto chuckled, "Ah, I was correct then. Fill me in, please?"

"The blueprints you recovered from the Incendio gang were actually for a special bullet made especially to take out Flame users."

"But they're gone now, right?"

The Storm Guardian shook his head, grimacing. "Unfortunately, they've already passed the information on to the main family, Fuoco. Gilgio Nero was just attacked recently with the new weapon."

"Really? Wow… that's pretty bold of Fuoco…"

"Giglio Nero's contacted us and right now Giannini, Irie, and Spanner are studying the data they teleported over."

"So… we might have to fight with the Fuoco Family later, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Ah… another war…" Yamamoto frowned at the thought.

"Looks like it… Anyway…" Gokudera stood up. "I have to contact the Varia and Chiavorone Family."

"Can I get out of here now?" Yamamoto asked eagerly.

Gokudera snorted. "If you reopen that wound, I'll kick your ass."

"Ah… okay…" Yamamoto grinned, knowing fully that the place he was headed might just reopen all his old wounds instead of just the current one.

.

"Kyou-san," Kusakabe said quietly. "You have a visitor."

In addition to the underground Foundation base Hibari had had built in Namimori, work and research made the Cloud Guardian add another building in Italy just a short five minutes away by car from the main Vongola mansion. The front of the miniature mansion looked normal enough in an Italian countryside, but once one went past the parlor, everything was Japanese, including the fenced off backyard.

Hibari had returned to his sanctuary and was currently drinking some tea, dressed in his usual black yukata. He almost had a fight with Kusakabe earlier at the main mansion; the latter had insisted that his boss didn't wear something too constraining, and after a few minutes of a determined staring contest on Kusakabe's part, Hibari silently complied and didn't button all the way up, muttering that they were returning to the Foundation base as soon as they took a look at the bodies.

Now, Hibari once again found his peace disturbed, although even he was reasonable enough by now to not fully blame it on Kusakabe; he readied the tonfa in his sleeve as a present for whoever was about to enter the room. He nodded.

"Hey, Hibari!" a familiar voice greeted him.

Hibari put the tea cup down and threw a tonfa at him, which Yamamoto barely dodged to Kusakabe's grief when the object hit one of the paper walls.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" Hibari growled.

"I am resting!" Yamamoto replied, grinning, taking a seat in front of him.

Hibari regarded him for a moment and shook his head, looking over to Kusakabe, who nodded and brought over a spare tea cup.

"Not going to bite me to death?" Yamamoto asked, chuckling nervously.

"Not yet. I'd rather fight you when you're at full strength," Hibari returned.

"Ah…"

The two sat in silence for a few minutes as their drained their tea. Yamamoto shifted uncomfortably under the obvious murderous aura propagating from Hibari, who's annoyed countenance didn't reassure the Rain Guardian even one bit.

"Why did you come here?" Hibari finally broke the silence when the other didn't speak.

Yamamoto was waiting for this question, and his smile fell a little, because he still didn't know how to approach it. "I wanted to see you," he said, looking the other straight in the eye. "Is there something wrong with that?"

.

"Are you sure about this?" Spanner asked as Irie summoned a mass of Sun Flames from his ring.

"It can't be helped. We still need data on the effects of the Sun Flames and Mist Flames," the scientist responded. "So, pull me away as soon as this batch goes in." He held his hand over the extracted bullet. "Okay, on my count… three… two… one…" he touched the metal with the top of his index finger and the others watched in amazement as his Sun Flames dissipated. Irie felt his body weaken just as the other two grabbed his shoulders and wrenched him away from the bullet.

"Ah…" he groaned, rubbing his head. "That thing absorbs really well…"

"It's doing something!" Giannini said excitedly as Irie forced himself up. They watched as the metal surrounding the Sun Flames infused bullet began rusting, and within seconds, the entire metal table fell apart, crumbling into a mass of oxygen tainted iron.

"Activation…" Irie muttered. "It must have sped up the rusting process."

"So if that thing went inside a human, then they'd die from a heart attack or something, right?" Giannini asked.

"Nah, I'd say cancer or maybe they'll just mutate into something," Spanner offered.

"Okay, okay!" Irie interrupted. "It's just as dangerous as the other Flames, so we're done with this one."

"What about Mist?" Spanner asked him.

"I think we're good for now. Let's contact Gokudera."

-Present-

It was Friday, and Yamamoto once again found himself alone on the roof of one of Namimori High's buildings, his hand tense on his undrawn baseball bat. As expected, a flash of steel prompted him to draw, and this time, a blade replaced the wood when Yamamoto swung sideways to block Hibari's attack.

The skylark in question grinned at the gesture; although Yamamoto would consider the Cloud Guardian's expression anything but friendly, Hibari's eyes lit up with a feral desire for blood. The prefect jumped back and lunged again only to have his quick thrusts with his tonfa at his prey's stomach and sides consecutively halted by another weapon of steel. Yamamoto saw each attack easily this time and positioned his katana expertly whenever the time came.

"Yamamoto Takeshi…"

'Uh…' Yamamoto recognized the familiar impatience in the other's voice.

"Why aren't you attacking?"

"Oh." Actually, Yamamato had completely forgotten that important piece to the art of fighting. Growling indignantly, Hibari sprang at him again like a starved tiger.

Again, Hibari jumped over Yamamoto for the attack from behind, but this time, the swordsman instinctively swung in advance and felt his sword momentarily catch on something soft before returning to the air. On the other end, Hibari had seen the attack coming, but the momentum from his previous jump only allowed him the freedom of propelling his body back slightly, avoiding most of the cut but nevertheless earning a shallow wound to the side of his leg. He twirled and managed to land, on his bad leg, and subsequently lost his balance, falling backwards.

In an instant, the sword fell from Yamamoto's hands as he lunged for Hibari and threw a protective arm around the smaller teenager's neck and head, letting his arm cushion the fall and probably saving the other from a small concussion, and they both fell to the ground. By the time Hibari opened his eyes, the two were already in a quite awkward position with Yamamoto on top of him, hugging him as if the Rain Guardian's life depended on it.

"Get off of me," Hibari growled as he tried to push the other off, but it didn't work; Yamamoto was a little too heavy. "Hey!" The Cloud Guardian could feel the other's heartbeat through their clothing, quick and panicking. 'Is he…'

Yamamoto managed to let go and propped himself up by his hands, but then froze again as a new wave of memories washed over him. 'Hibari was protecting me like this before he…' He willed his body to move, up and away, but it was too late. Again, he saw the blood stained face and the fading eyes.

"Yamamoto Takeshi," Hibari warned, dangerously, but his words never reached the other's ears. "Hey…" He saw them again: the eyes wide with fear, a fear that Hibari didn't want. "Snap out of it!" he yelled and suddenly gave the other a violent push. The two of the rolled over and Hibari found himself on top, still staring into the same eyes. "Stop looking at me like that!"

It happened just like that. Hibari had no idea why he did it, and Yamamoto probably didn't know what the hell happened until minutes after it was over, but the Cloud Guardian leaned down and captured the other's lips in a frustrated kiss, biting the other in the process, and pulled back when he realized what he had done. For the most part, the method, intentional or not, worked; Hibari now found himself staring into a pair of confused wide brown eyes.

"Hibari, what?" The prefect, panicking, gave him a swift blow to the stomach with a tonfa, knocking him out, and limped quickly off the roof, trailing blood behind him.

.

"What the hell happened to you?" Gokudera yelled when he entered the infirmary.

"Ah, Kusakabe-san found me on the rooftop unconscious," Yamamoto replied, grinning. "I guess I fell asleep or something."

"Your lip's split," the Storm Guardian stated, an eyebrow raising.

"Ah…" Yamamoto touched it lightly, finding blood. "Wow… it is…" He suddenly remembered, the skylark on top of him, yelling something he couldn't decipher, and then angry fangs.

"Did something happen?"

"Nope. Nothing at all," Yamamoto reassured him, chuckling nervously as a deep blush made its way across his face. "Really, I'm… I'm fine…" He forced a grin. 'Act natural, act natural…'

"Great, now get out," Dr. Shamal interrupted, scratching his head. "Sheesh, I can't believe this… I don't treat guys," he grumbled, walking away.

"Hm… interesting…" Reborn muttered, making his pupil look at him with a fearful expression. The two were watching the scene from outside the room.

"What's interesting?" Tsuna asked, sweating.

"Ah, nothing, nothing," Reborn responded, smirking.

"Wait, didn't he ask you if he could borrow a sword this morning? Who was he fighting?"

"We'll find out soon," the Arcobaleno replied. Tsuna had a feeling that his teacher did something crazy to them again and hoped that the results were going to be all right, like usual. However, that didn't mean the process was going to be smooth.

"Huh?" he attempted, knowing that Reborn would only probably divulge a few of the details.

"Don't worry, the poison isn't that potent. We'll find out by tomorrow if anyone died in the school," Reborn responded, shrugging.

"Reborn! Why did you have to put poison on Yamamoto's sword?" Tsuna exclaimed.

"A hitman should always be ready to kill his enemies."

"Ah! Yamamoto!" Tsuna ran into the room to relay the news to his Rain Guardian.

Reborn shook his head. "Always," he muttered.

.

Hibari threw open the Disciplinary Committee door, half dragging himself inside before slamming it shut in anger. His body was burning, and the sides of his vision wavered in and out as he trudged across the room and finally collapsed facedown on the sofa. 'What the hell…'

He managed to turn his face slightly so that he could breathe, although his burning lungs didn't help much with the effort. The blood from his leg was beginning to pool slightly on the sofa due to overexertion.

"Yamamoto…" he whispered before everything went black.

* * *

Hello! I don't really know how the bullets should kill their victims so… lol oops if it doesn't make sense. I have a midterm on Monday… (yay for 5 week summer classes), so the next update will be… sometime next week again?

Thanks for reading, and see you later!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

Note! Uh… I said I'd post this week, but I've been super short on time and ideas T.T. This current chapter is like a… let's make that 2nd draft, but not final. Uh… so I'll repost a better version on Tuesday/Wednesday, so if you want to read the backbone of the chapter now, here it is. If not, please be patient T.T. Thank you!

Update: I have fixed the chapter up! Please read if you have been refraining ^.^

* * *

-Future-

Hibari gave him a blank stare not too far from his usual impassive expression, but from years of observation, Yamamoto was ninety percent sure that his words had just thrown the other into a state of confusion, which, by the way, the Cloud Guardian hated. His eyes narrowed slightly; he reconsidered knocking out the imbecile sitting happily in front of him who was currently trying to hold back a laugh at the skylark's sudden change, or rather, sudden yet almost undetectable change in expression.

"What do you mean?" Hibari asked calmly, recovering from his momentary lapse in comprehension, bringing the Rain Guardian back into reality.

"Uh… well… you were out for a few days…" Yamamoto stuttered, finally realizing his absentminded half-proposal of affection.

"And you had those few days to stare at me," Hibari told him bluntly; Yamamoto could almost feel the words like sharp knives on his ears. The Rain Guardian could tell the other was doing all he can to not beat the answer out of him, but he also knew that Hibari's patience rarely lasted very long. The Cloud Guardian was obviously not satisfied with the previous conversation at the mansion and for some reason held off searching for the explanation of Yamamoto's answers until now.

Yamamoto bit his lip slightly, swallowing in vain to moisturize his suddenly parched throat. 'How could I possibly tell you?'

"Yamamoto Takeshi…" Hibari said his name, every syllable of his name that Yamamoto heard from the other felt like another caress to his ears, opposed by the tonfa now against his throat; when had the piece of metal gotten there? The proximity was too close for Yamamoto; his vision was suddenly all murderous eyes, soft black hair, pale skin, and lips… all suddenly replaced with blood.

"I was fighting, okay!" Yamamoto finally burst out, trying to drown out his thoughts. He remembered everything clearly from the second he returned from the past until the time when the door closed behind him as he set off for the three warehouses. The bullet wounds, the blood, the sight of the one he loved on the verge of death: the memories were enough to drive him crazy now that he had finally recovered from that haze of disbelief. "Do you think I'd want to sit there staring at your half-dead body without being able to do anything?"

The skylark regarded his answer for a second, his eyes widening just a miniscule fraction at the exclamation, and drew back, resuming his seat across from Yamamoto. "You didn't," Hibari answered with a fact after a pause.

Yamamoto took a deep breath to calm the images raging through his mind. "I didn't." At this time, Kusakabe found it convenient and permissible to slip out of the room unnoticed.

"Why not?" The question wasn't accusing; Yamamoto swore he heard something that ran along the lines of anticipation, but he pushed that idea aside.

Yamamoto bit his lip, taking another deep breath to calm down. 'Okay, we're going to start running in circles…'

"Hurry and answer," Hibari threatened, his tonfa twitching.

"I… I…"

'I love you…'

"I was protecting Vongola's pride," he answered.

Hibari's eyes bore into his, and Yamamoto knew immediately that the other didn't buy that explanation even a bit, logical as it was. The Cloud Guardian's glare only intensified, and Yamamoto wondered if there was some way he could use his Rain Flames to melt himself into the floor and escape from the tense atmosphere. He regretted, just a little, that he decided to come.

"You're lying."

'Ah, now that's accusing…' Yamamoto thought. At that moment, the Namimori School Anthem flowed through the room as Hibari's cell phone went off.

Yamamoto didn't even chuckle this time; only a single thought ran through his mind that said, 'Saved!' He let his breath out slowly as he attempted in vain to calm his quickly beating heart. 'Am I that afraid to tell him?'

"Hey, Irie and the others are finished with their research, so come down if you want," Gokudera said on the other line before almost immediately hanging up. He stopped, adding, "Oh, and tell the Baseball Idiot to come too." Then, the phone clicked.

Hibari put the phone down slowly, wondering how Gokudera knew the other was here.

"Uh…" Yamamoto began, wondering if he had to continue with his answer.

"One of your herbivore friends just called." He stood up, and Kusakabe walked in with a change of clothes: his suit. "I'll just go in this," Hibari said, and his subordinated nodded, slightly surprised. When he had reached the sliding door, Hibari turned his head slightly to see if the other would get the hint and follow, and Yamamoto finally realized that they had been summoned.

"Ah…" Yamamoto said, his characteristic chuckling returning as he stood up. "Mind if I have a ride? I don't think this would survive another walk." He touched his side lightly.

"Do what you want," came the answer, and Hibari continued out the door, or, more accurately, stormed out the door.

'He's… angry?' Yamamoto bit his lip and followed cautiously just in case any tonfa were waiting for him on his way out.

.

The door burst open and Hibari entered, followed by Yamamoto, who Gokudera noticed was fidgeting uncomfortably, obviously straining to both keep his usual goofy smile on his face and concentrate on the current situation at hand. Hibari on the other hand was obviously annoyed for one reason or another, immediately moving a sizable distance from the rest of the group to observe the proceedings, an unseen murderous aura weighing down on the room from him. Gokudera suspected that the Cloud Guardian was twice as far as he would normally be from them, but he never bothered measuring. The acting boss of Vongola chose to ignore the two other Guardians for now and instead nodded to Irie to begin. The scientist sighed and cleared his throat nervously.

"Okay, so we've managed to figure out what the special bullets will do when they come in contact with different Flames," Irie began, showing them a set of bullets recovered from the bodies. "Basically, the bullet first absorbs the Flames and then uses them against its target or whatever it hits as soon as its contact with the Flames is broken, which can happen when the bullet leaves the person's body or if absorbs all of its target's Flames. In the worst case scenario where the bullet is stuck in the target, it'll kill the person from the inside." He nodded to the bodies, which they had covered with sheets. Gokudera made a mental note to also provide them with air fresheners next time.

Irie continued. "Unfortunately for them, all of them each had a bullet or two inside. From the looks of it, even a bullet in the arm can be fatal; the Rain Flame user only had that one wound."

"Wait, so why did that guy look like he was sleeping while the others look like they got blown to hell?" Gokudera asked.

"Ah, we're getting to that," Spanner responded a little too excitedly. "You all pretty much know about the attributes of each of the different Flames by now, right?"

Gokudera shrugged, "Just explain however you want."

"Ah, okay then. We weren't able to conduct any tests on Sky or Mist Flames, so I'll just run through the other five briefly. The Rain Flames calm the body functions until they stop, like the beating of the heart and the neural pathways, so it's probably the most peaceful way to die when hit by one of these bullets."

"That explains that one body…" Gokudera muttered.

"Huh? There are bodies in here?" Yamamoto suddenly cut in.

'He went through this much of the explanation without realizing? How out of it is he?' Gokudera thought incredulously. 'He should've known from the smell by now!'

"Uh… they're over there; we covered them…" Giannini told him.

"Oh…"

"You can look at the bodies later! Sheesh!" Gokudera said, turning back to Spanner. "Go on."

"Okay, so the next is the Thunder Flames, which unsurprisingly electrocutes the person to death. We didn't have a subject for the Sun Flames, but from other tests, it seems that it will probably give the victim a heart attack or something. The Storm Flames disintegrates the subject from the inside. And finally," he took a breath from his explanation, "the Cloud Flames would somehow propagate the air inside the victim until he uh… explodes… like the two piles of stuff you saw earlier…"

Gokudera stared at them for a second. "That's it?"

"Yeah… pretty much," Irie said, shrugging. "When it comes down to it, just don't get hit and you should be fine."

"Oh, joy…" Gokudera frowned.

"Uh… Can I see… do you think I can see the bodies now?" Yamamoto asked quietly, making the others look at him.

"You sure you want to see?" Irie asked, frowning.

"Ye… Yeah!" Yamamoto said.

The scientist sighed. "Okay, follow me then."

The others watched as the two walked over to the covered bodies and begin inspecting each one; to the others' relief, Irie only raised the sheet enough so that Yamamoto could take a peek at the deceased lying under it. Gokudera frowned at Yamamoto's strange behavior; he was sure the other wasn't too into mutilated human bodies.

Gokudera took the chance to look at Giannini, who had surprisingly not taken part in the explanation or make any attempts to flaunt his knowledge. Needless to say, the other was seemingly deep in thought with a hand to his chin and lips pursed. Suddenly, the scientist let out a small gasp of realization just as Hibari was leaving the room.

"The bullets… don't you think they're very similar to the ones the Second and Xanxus use?"

"Well… now that you mention it, they do work in similar ways, don't they?" Spanner added, putting a hand up to his chin in thought.

"Yeah… wait! Ah! It all makes sense!" Giannini exclaimed. "The Vongola Library!"

"No way, you mean the break-in?" Gokudera asked, eyes widening with realization.

"Yes! They said that it was something from the blueprints section; it must have been data on the Second's bullets! They must have taken the papers from our library and then used then to develop these bullets!"

"Oh great…" Gokudera sighed. "Nevertheless, we have to bring them down before they manage to sell any of those bullets to the other families or else it might get ugly."

"We can tell the Varia to start moving," Spanner offered.

"Ugh… I didn't exactly… talk to them yet," Gokudera muttered.

"Huh? I thought you were going to contact them earlier."

"Do you know how frustrating it is to talk to them? If they're not trying to break our speakers, they're threatening us."

"Ah… come to think of it, the leader of the Varia still wants to take over Vongola, right? What was his name… Xanxus?" Spanner asked.

"Yeah, well surprisingly they haven't too been aggressive with that lately." Gokudera sighed. "I'd rather not find out why right now though."

"We should still contact them," Spanner insisted.

"Fine! Fine! I'll do it…. later," The Storm Guardian growled. "You really don't know how it is between the Varia and us…"

Meanwhile, Yamamoto bit his lip when Irie showed him the last of the Cloud Flame users. They hadn't done much to the body other than remove the bullet, and by now, the blood had mostly dried. Yamamoto detected a few bones, probably ribs, sticking out of the mess.

"This could have been him…" he muttered under his breath.

"Yeah…" Irie replied softly. "You guys have to be really careful from now on. You were lucky that the ones you went against in that mission didn't have these on them."

Yamamoto stared at the corpse with empty eyes. Flashbacks from his previous mission came back to him, and he suddenly remembered a strange happening that he had been too busy to think about until now.

_He brought the katana down on the man, his sword exploding with the blue Rain Flames before it made contact with flesh. Blood splattered everywhere, just like the others; the sword had cut perfectly, mercilessly…_

_Laughter snapped him out of his thoughts, and Yamamoto put a hand up to his mouth; the laughter was not his. He looked down, realizing that the dying man before him was laughing._

"_What's so funny?" the Rain Guardian demanded._

"_You… so soft-hearted… You know… Rain Flames… make death… bearable… We… we… killed him… mercilessly…" The man stopped moving._

"_I don't know…" Yamamoto answered the corpse, walking away. "I guess that's just the type of person I am; I can't even kill properly."_

"What a horrible way to die…" Yamamoto said to the corpse, unconsciously reach out to one of the more obvious bones caked with dried blood.

"Yamamoto?" Irie's worried voice brought him back.

The Rain Guardian caught himself, pulling his hand back. "Just when I thought I had somehow thrown away my humanity, I see something worse," he said, chuckling.

"You haven't thrown away anything though," Irie said, frowning.

"Irie… I killed them all…"

"And I know that you didn't let them suffer as much as they would have if they had been hit by this bullet."

Yamamoto shook his head. "No… I'm just trying to justify my actions." He looked back at the corpse. "Either way… they're dead. Once someone's dead, nothing matters anymore."

Irie bit his lip, not knowing what to say in response to the other's words.

.

"Okay, spill it. What happened?" Gokudera asked him afterwards during lunch at a local café. The Storm Guardian had grabbed the other as soon as Yamamoto left the research room and dragged him into the car. "Better to find out what's wrong now, than have him run off again later," Gokudera had told himself.

"Uh… I almost…" he bit his straw nervously, "confessed? By accident?"

The Storm Guardian stared at him for as second with wide surprised eyes and then sighed, chewing on his cigarette. "I told you to stay in the mansion. Sheesh!"

"Ah… I know…" Yamamoto chuckled.

"Wait, so why didn't you? It's not like anything will change. He'd probably just bite you to death and leave it at that."

Yamamoto shook his head, looking down at his silverware. "Even that would be better than if he said no."

"Huh?" Gokudera grinned. "Oh! You don't want to get rejected!"

Yamamoto put a finger up to his mouth, looking around, flustered.

Gokudera shook his head. "How long has it been?"

"Since the Ring Battles…" the Rain Guardian admitted.

His friend stared at him blankly. "No way."

"Ah… it's true," Yamamoto replied, giving him a cheeky grin. "Ten years…"

"And you haven't made one freaking move on him…"

"Ah…"

"Yamamoto," Gokudera began, suddenly serious. "You should just tell him."

"Huh?" A blush ran across his face at the thought.

"Think about it. In our line of work, one day, it might be too late. Like… like…" he hesitated, as his voice softened a little from its usual roughness he had always been accustomed with using, "Tsuna…"

A pregnant pause followed before Yamamoto burst out, "You never told him?"

Gokudera looked away.

"But… he… he knew, didn't he?"

"How would you know how the Tenth felt about me? He liked Kyoko, okay? There's no way I'd butt in!" He sighed, pulling his hair slightly in frustration. "Sorry… let's talk about something else, okay?"

"No no… it was my fault." Their food arrived and the two began eating awkwardly as each waited for the other to say something.

Gokudera searched for a new conversation, frustrated. 'Why do I have to be comforting this Baseball Idiot? He should help me out by calling the Varia!' He suddenly remembered Yamamoto's sudden strange interest in the corpses and decided to attempt pulling some information from there out of curiosity.

"So why'd you want to look at the corpses earlier?"

Yamamoto answered immediately. "Ah, I just… wanted to?"

"Huh?" He asked, an eyebrow raised between a bite of spaghetti.

"Well, it's good to know what we're up against, right? I'm sure you already saw them."

Gokudera bit his straw, chewing on it absentmindedly in place of his cigarette. "That's true…"

"Yup! That's all to it!" Yamamoto chuckled. He looked down at his half finished steak, frowning. "That's all to it…" he repeated, unsure.

"You're thinking about the Incendio Gang, aren't you?" The swordsman didn't answer and instead concentrated on cutting his steak. "It's fine." He hesitated and then smiled. "I would've done the same if it was Tsuna."

Yamamoto looked up at him, surprised that the other was willing to bring up Tsuna again for the sake of cheering him up. The swordsman returned the smile easily this time without any need to force himself. "Thanks. That means a lot to me."

Gokudera returned to his food. "I don't expect you to get over so soon, but don't dwell on it too much. We're in the mafia; you should expect things like this to happen."

"Yeah… I'll try to not worry about it…" He returned to his food with a new vigor, knowing that he'd need the energy from the steak later. 'I'll… I'll tell him…'

.

"Hey Hibari!" Yamamoto said cheerfully upon entering the room as another tonfa flew towards him. To Kusakabe's gratitude, the Rain Guardian caught the tonfa this time and sat down in front of Hibari, place the weapon to the side carefully.

The Cloud Guardian didn't speak, choosing to stare down his prey with inquisitive eyes.

"Uh…" Yamamoto looked nervously over Hibari's shoulder to Kusakabe, who took the hint and slipped out of the room. He shifted his attention back to the immediate danger, plastering his old grin back on his face. "About that earlier conversation, I have an answer." No reply came.

Yamamoto took a breath and looked the other straight in the eyes. He could never get enough of Hibari's eyes; every expression, most of them murderous, fascinated him. He could sit and stare into those eyes for hours on end if its owner ever managed to sit still enough without moving to bite him to death. Yamamoto closed his own, swallowing to moisten his dry throat, and imagined cherry blossoms. He opened them and found the other's eyes still unchanged, giving him alone attention. His grin was genuine now.

"I love you." He studied the other's expression briefly and stood up to leave. "I don't expect an answer, but please, think about it…" It was all he could do to prevent himself from running out of the mansion, but he eventually made it to the front door in one piece, grabbing his head in nervousness. 'I must be going crazy…' He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down, but the sinking feeling in his stomach wouldn't go away. He looked at his hands and suddenly remembered the corpse from earlier that morning.

'I… I shouldn't have done that…' He sighed, shaking his head. 'What's done is done, right?' He started walking back to the mansion. 'Life's too short anyway…' he tried to reason with himself, but the corpse wouldn't stop starring back at him with its empty eye sockets, reminding him of all of the mistakes that he had already made.

Meanwhile, the Cloud Guardian finally stirred, like a slumbering beast awakened, and lightly touched his chest right over his heart, trying to calm its quickened pace. "Idiot…"

-Present-

"Wait, Yamamoto!" Tsuna yelled, but his Rain Guardian had already disappeared.

"That should do it," Reborn said behind him, shaking his head.

"You did that on purpose?" Tsuna and Gokudera exclaimed at the same time.

"Do you want Yamamoto to stay like that?" the Arcobaleno inquired.

"But he's been acting completely fine the past few days!" Tsuna said before biting his lip. "Well…"

"Acting, right?"

"But how will this solve anything?" his student lamented.

The corners of the baby's lips turned up mischievously. "Who knows?"

"What do you mean?" Gokudera asked.

"Wait… is there something going on between Yamamoto and Hibari?" Tsuna muttered, blushing.

"What?" his Storm Guardian exploded. "No way!"

Reborn shrugged. "Not yet."

'He knew this would happen?' The two teenagers looked at each other. The world's greatest hitman was truly a force to be reckoned with.

.

"Hibari!" Yamamoto yelled as he threw open the door to the Disciplinary Committee room, freezing when he saw blood. He bit his lip and willed his feet to move towards the couch only to find the person in question unconscious. Sweat trickled down the side of the other's face, and his breathing was quick and shallow as if each breath took effort. The wound Yamamoto had inflicted earlier had bled all over the sofa, although by now, most of it had dried.

The Rain Guardian lifted Hibari's head slightly, calling his name but the other didn't respond. Fighting the familiar wave of panic, Yamamoto lifted the skylark up in his arms and ran out of the room to the infirmary.

.

Hibari blinked. 'White…'

"Ah! You're awake! I'm sorry! I borrowed the sword from Reborn and I didn't realize…" a suddenly barrage of sound threw him from his half asleep state.

"You're too loud…" Hibari muttered, looking around for something to shut the jabbering Rain Guardian up. To his surprise, his three words alone resulted in an instant silence from the other.

"That's what you said before," Yamamoto said thoughtfully. He closed his eyes, chuckling a bit. "You were lying there, bleeding to death, and you still managed to tell me to lower my voice."

Hibari in turn grumbled, choosing to explore his unfamiliar surroundings a little bit more. He was definitely in the school infirmary and a slight stinging sensation on his neck told him volumes about how he was sleeping before in the committee room. Someone had neatly bandaged his leg under the pants, which were by now a lost cause with its prominent blood stain at the calf.

"Hey Hibari…" Yamamoto muttered a little nervously after the other had fully examined his own state and his surroundings. "Uh… I've been meaning to ask… on the roof… why did you…"

Hibari looked at him, mouth half open to respond with biting words. However, nothing came out, and the Cloud Guardian hesitated and closed his mouth before opening it again only to say, "Leave," and turn away, pulling the blankets over his head.

"Huh?" He didn't expect this reaction.

"Get out, or I will bite you to death. I'm going to sleep." Hibari put a hand on his chest, grimacing at the tingling sensation.

"Ah… okay…" The other sounded disappointed. "Get well soon!" The door closed, leaving the skylark alone under the blankets wondering if the effects of the poison hadn't worn off yet due to the burning sensation that had now spread to his ears and his cheeks.

"Ah I'm so confused!" Yamamoto lamented outside, burying his face in his hands and feeling the warmth of the blush bleed through his hands.

* * *

Ah! I'm so sorry that this is so late T.T! I was so busy this week. This chapter's not even to my liking; I'll fix it as soon as I'm done with finals (on Tuesday gah!). I know I said I'd post this week… so here it is… last minute T.T and I'm not even 100 percent happy with it. Version 2 will be up Tuesday or Wednesdayish. Aiya! Gomenasai! Uh… uh… think of this as… a preview?

By the way, is anyone going to Anime Expo XD?

Anyways, thanks for reading! Till… wait I'm super fixing this later…

Update: I have fixed it! The next chapter will be up sometime later this week!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

Hello! The last chapter has been fixed up XD. Okay, onward!

* * *

-Present-

"Eh, so what did you want to talk about?" Tsuna asked as he sat down in front of Yamamoto in the latter's room. The Rain Guardian had invited him over for the Sunday over the phone, nervously insisting that Tsuna didn't bring anyone with him.

"Uh…" Yamamoto scratched his head awkwardly, looking a little dejected, while he fished around for the right words to explain his predicament to Tsuna.

'Oh no! He's depressed again?'

"Hey Tsuna… Do you like Gokudera?" Yamamoto suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Tsuna exclaimed, feeling his traitorous ears turning red. "Why do you ask?"

"Uh… I… I was just wondering how the feeling was like," he stuttered.

"Fe… feeling?" Tsuna felt his head spin.

"Like… do you get all fuzzy and stuff when you're with him?"

"Huh? Is that what you're feeling when you're with Hibari?"

"What? I don't…" Yamamoto looked at him for a second before bursting out laughing. "No, not at all. That's why I'm a little confused."

"Do you like Hibari?"

"Uh… I… I don't know… He was the one who kissed me first," Yamamoto said, turning a deep shade of red.

"What?" Tsuna exclaimed.

Yamamoto put a finger up to his mouth, looking around his room worriedly. They had decided to go to Yamamoto's house because of Lambo and the others at Tsuna's. After making sure no one was eavesdropping, Yamamoto related the events of the fight to Tsuna.

"Why don't you ask him about it?" Tsuna advised, well aware that that was probably a death sentence for Yamamoto, but he couldn't think of anything else.

"I tried… he kicked me out…"

"Oh… uh… try again?" Tsuna advised unhelpfully.

Yamamoto sighed. "Yeah… I guess that's all I can do right now…"

-Future-

'Okay, I'm ready,' Gokudera thought as the phone rang. 'I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm…'

"Voi!" a characteristically ear-drum-breaking wave of sound burst forth from the phone. Again, Gokudera remembered to keep the object well away from his ear, wondering if he should just make it a habit from now on no matter who he called. However, even this method usually didn't work too well with the infamous loud-voiced Varia swordsman.

"Can you at least try not to blow my ears out?" Gokudera yelled back.

"Why should…" Squalo began before Gokudera heard shuffling on the other end, followed by some angry shouts.

"What do you want?" The volume lowered considerably as Fran's voice came out through the speaker.

"Hey! Give that back!" Gokudera heard Squalo clearly in the background.

"No, I want to try taking phone calls for once."

"New mission you might like," Gokudera answered, choosing to ignore the two. "Where the hell have you guys been for the past few months anyway?"

"Japan." The response made Gokudera freeze for a moment and wondered why shocking events come in packages; he just knew that one of these days, he'd die from a heart attack or something.

"What are you doing in Japan?" he asked seriously. Before, when Tsuna was still alive, there were plenty of things in Japan the Varia could mess with in order to provoke the main Vongola branch, but in the current time, he couldn't help but still suspect that the Varia's presence in Japan didn't bold well for the Guardians.

"Babysitting," Fran responded as if it was the most natural answer in the world.

"What?"

"Don't 'what' me!" Squalo had taken the phone back. "It was your stupid ex-fake boss that gave us the order to protect the next heir!" Squalo finally realized the meaning behind the Storm Guardian's confusion. "What? You mean you didn't know?" he asked, now as confused as his caller.

"He's so cute!" a new voice cut in, obviously Lussuria's. "Aren't you going to visit sometime?"

"Why the hell would you guys protect the heir? I thought you wanted Xanxus to…" Gokudera finally found his voice and exclaimed.

"Oh come on. If Boss takes over now, Vongola would probably fall apart. This is obviously a way to gain the rest of Vongola's favor before we make the move," Lussuria said.

"The rest of Vongola doesn't even know we have another heir…" Gokudera returned. 'Why didn't I know that we had an heir? Wasn't I the right-hand man?'

"Oh…" Lussuria sounded dejected.

"Idiot! Who's idea was it?" Squalo yelled.

"But he's adorable, and oh so harmless!" the Sun Flame user insisted.

"You two…" Gokudera tried to cut it.

"We've been sitting here for several freaking months already, and nothing's happened at all! You would've thought there would be more people chasing the kid!"

"Think of it as a vacation!" Lussuria insisted.

"The sashimi here is good," Fran helped in a monotone.

"Great! Vacation's over! Get your asses back here!" Gokudera exploded.

"Oh, do the great Guardians need help from the little old Varia?" Lussuria asked.

"No, I just want to see you guys get blown up by your own Flames…" Gokudera hissed.

"Ushishishi…What's this about explosions?" a new voice joined the conversation.

"Are all of you in the same room or something?"

"No, oh hi Levi!" Lussuria answered. "Ah! Boss! Now we are!"

"Everyone, shut up! It's too damn loud!" Gokudera guessed that this was Xanxus.

'I didn't even say anything yet…' Levi was thinking, but that doesn't really matter.

"What the hell do you want, Trash?" Xanxus's voice now came from the receiver.

'Sheesh, nice to talk to you too!' Gokudera thought wildly but managed to compose himself.

"We have a situation here back in Italy. One of the other famiglia called the Fuoco Family developed some kind of bullet using data from the ones you use."

"You can't take care of it?" The voice was mocking, poisonous, and it was all Gokudera could do to not yell back. If it had been several years ago, he would've done just that.

Gokudera grimaced at the phone. He knew he couldn't show any sign of weakness to this man who once threatened the very structure of Vongola. Unlike Tsuna, the Storm Guardian didn't have as strong of a grasp on the family and only had as much as a say in Vongola as the Varia at times. "I'll send you the data, and you can decide for yourself whether or not it's worth your time."

"Fine."

Gokudera heard shuffling again along with Lussuria yelling, "Oh no! Catch the phone!"

"Voi!"

"Hey I want to talk again. It's fun."

"What should we do with Hiro-chan?" Lussuria's voice once again dominated the phone.

"Huh?" Gokudera didn't know there was a "Hiro" in Varia.

"Your dear Tenth's son?"

Gokudera froze for a second. "Whatever. You decide." The phone clicked.

"Ah?" Lussuria stared at the object in his hand. "Oh dear, did I say something wrong? None of our other comments made him hang up."

"That was extremely mean. I didn't know you were capable of such a joke," Fran commented.

"Huh? What did I do?" Lussuria asked, confused. "Oh, did I get the relationships wrong again?"

"It's 'brother!' Where the hell did you get 'son?'" Squalo sighed, slapping his head. "I'll tell him when we get there, or he's going to bitch all day."

"Forget it for now. The data's here," Fran interrupted.

"That was fast!" Lussuria said gleefully as they gathered around the computer in the room. "Oh… this looks fun!" he sang.

.

"This is no time to be drinking!" Giannini exclaimed when he walked into the kitchen only to see both Gokudera and Yamamoto passed out on the table with a pile of empty beer cans in front of them. "You guys!"

"Wake them up to the extreme!"

"Maybe I shouldn't try alcohol after all…"

"Should I shock one of them?" a new voice offered.

"What? What is Gamma doing here?" Gokudera suddenly yelled, sitting up, still obviously drunk.

"To help, obviously," the Thunder Flame user answered, sighing.

"Gokudera, we need you in the control room. Please try to get sober," Giannini said, shaking him. "Hey! The Varia are on their way here as we speak!"

"Huh? Already?" That did the trick.

"Yeah. We should have a hotel prepared for them, unless you want to lose half of the mansion or something. Also, Irie and Spanner are working on finding the location of the Fuoco's facilities as we speak. As the acting Boss…"

"Great… fine, I'm going…" Gokudera said as he forced himself up and wobbled out the door.

"Hey, take it easy!" Ryohei said, running after him, leaving the others behind.

"Hey, Yamamoto…" Lambo said, shaking him gently. "Maybe you should go back to your room to sleep."

The Rain Guardian groaned a little and muttered. "No… Dad… it's too early…" The Thunder Guardian let go of him, smiling sadly. "Okay… but you'll get a backache if you sleep here."

"Huh?" Yamamoto opened his eyes, looking around groggily. "Oh… ah… sorry… I'll go back to my room then…" He got up and almost fell, but Lambo managed to steady him. "Ah, ha ha… sorry…"

Gamma watched as the two left and turned back to Giannini, who had kept quiet throughout the previous scene. "So you don't need your Rain Guardian in the control room?"

"We need him healed," the scientist sighed.

.

Fran sighed. "Well at least Bel-senpai won't get to throw knives at me for a while."

"I'm very sorry for this…" she answered, walking up to the Varia Mist Flame user.

"Eh? Is the kid asleep already?"

She nodded, smiling.

Fran looked back out the window, "Don't worry about it. I can always use this time to come up with a new pose for opening my Box Weapon without Bel-senpai interfering."

"Has something happened with Vongola?"

"Yeah, they're trying to take care if it before it becomes too bad."

"I see…"

"Actually, we should probably be the ones apologizing. You really didn't have to take this job you know."

She chuckled. "Yeah, but it didn't look like any of you knew how to take care of children."

Fran put a hand to his chin, contemplating. "True… I was surprised Boss agreed to it."

"He does have a kind side to him."

Fran chuckled. "Hearing that said about him is a little strange."

She blushed and decided to change the subject. "Have you heard anything from Sawada-san?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Although, now Gokudera's going to have a headache trying to find a replacement for the head of CEDEF."

She chuckled. "He'll manage."

The two stared at the city bathed in moonlight in silence for a while, enjoying the night breeze that swept across their faces.

"Hey…" Fran began suddenly.

"Hm?"

"Can you tell me a little more about our former… about Tsunayoshi? I'm still kind of new compared to the others, so I never really met the guy."

She smiled, and Fran noted a small tinge of nostalgia in her eyes. "Of course."

.

"_Hey son, what's up?" Tsuyoshi asked as he entered the room to find Takeshi sitting on the tatami matted floor staring intently at his bat in front of him._

"_Dad! Uh… not much," Takeshi answered chuckling._

"_The game is coming fast, isn't it? You've been practicing almost every day."_

"_Yeah…"_

"_Are you ready?"_

"_Yeah…" Takeshi repeated, sighing. "Definitely…"_

_Tsuyoshi frowned. "Did that you just watch the tape with the loud swordsman?" Takeshi nodded, and his dad laughed heartily. "Ah, the way of the sword or baseball… it's a tough decision indeed."_

_Takeshi sighed again, dejected._

_Tsuyoshi walked up to him, bent down, and picked up the bat, giving it a clean swing to the side. The wooden stick let out a blast of smoke before turning into a katana, clean of any blood at this time and age. He handed the sword to Takeshi, grinning. "Just do both then. Alternate, like in baseball."_

_The Rain Guardian stared at the object briefly before matching his father's expression. "Thanks Dad."_

Takeshi woke up with a start, propelling his body up to a sitting position, hand at his side for the nonexistent sword that was currently located against the opposite wall, courtesy of Lambo. He tried to calm his breathing and wiped his wet eyes briefly before lying back down on his bed, a hand still over his eyes.

"I should stop drinking…" he said aloud to no one.

.

"Voi! We're here!" Squalo yelled at the top of his lungs as he entered the command room, much to the dismay of Giannini and the annoyance of Gokudera.

"We know! You don't have to yell!" Gokudera yelled back before realizing only Squalo walked through the door at the same time the latter noticed the presence of a non-Vongola in the vicinity. "Where are the others?"

"What is he doing here?" Squalo managed at the same time, staring at Gamma.

"He's here to help. They attacked the Giglio Nero not too long ago, and it's thanks to them that we have so much data on the bullets," Gokudera answered the other silver-head. "Now, Varia?"

"Oh, they're at the hotel. Unless you want them here, of course…"

"No… it's fine."

Squalo looked around again, frowning. "Hey! Where's the Rain Brat?"

"Still sleeping," Gokudera told him.

"It's freaking noon! He should be awake by now!"

Gokudera shrugged. "He's recovering. It's better to let him sleep that have him running around destroying warehouses."

"What? He got himself hurt? I'm going to kick his ass!"

"Wait, Squalo!" Gokudera called as the other stomped out of the room. "Ah! Whatever! Flood the house for all I care!"

"You shouldn't say things like that…" Giannini said nervously.

.

"Bucking horse…" Hibari muttered when the other entered.

Dino chuckled. "Same as always, Kyoya. How are your wounds? I heard they were pretty bad this time."

The Cloud Guardian returned to his tea. "Nothing I can't handle."

"Oh? What about Yamamoto?" Unfortunately for him, a tonfa answered, flying across the room and connecting with his face. "Ow… I guess I should just ask him myself, shouldn't I?" Dino laughed, rubbing his face.

"Varia! Varia!" Hibird chirped as he flew into the room, landing in Hibari's hair since the Cloud Guardian had been too preoccupied to offer him his finger tip.

"Oh, the Varia are here already? We should go to the main house then, Kyoya."

Hibari responded with a glare, hesitating before muttering, "Fine."

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Yamamoto's confession still weighed heavily on his mind as he exited the Foundation. The skylark played with the possibility that the other was just overly emotional, given the state both of them have been in the past several days. Herbivores were like that after all.

.

"Hey Rain Brat!" Squalo yelled as he kicked the door almost clean off its hinges before entering the dark room. Like usual, his sword was ready, and he ran through the many attacks he could throw at the Rain Guardian in his head. However, a strange washing sound answered him before he realized a wave of water was descending on him, its conjuror half off the bed and looking half-asleep, sword in hand and blue Rain Flames dancing around him wildly.

Gokudera and the others jumped when a crashing sound above them shook the building, followed by Squalo yelling something incoherent and the sound of metal on metal. "What the hell are they doing?"

"Should I do anything?" Gamma offered, obviously humored by all the little inner strife he had seen the past day.

"No! Stay here!" Gokudera grumbled, running out the door. "Why the hell did I say that earlier?"

"Actually, if you help, we might all get electrocuted," Spanner, who had entered the command room with Irie, commented.

Gamma chuckled, "True. It sounds like you have flash flood up there."

.

"Hey! Yamamoto!" Gokudera yelled when he entered the damp hallway, already dreading the cleaning bills they'd have to pay later. "Squalo! Are you trying to destroy the house?" To his surprise, a wall of water, obviously moving but not passing the broken door frame, guarded the entrance to the room. Squalo suddenly jumped backwards out of the water, dripping wet and panting.

"He's the one overdoing it!"

"Yamamoto!" Gokudera called again at the water, wondering if he'd really want to enter past the wall of water. He turned to Squalo. "What the hell did you do to him?"

"I don't know what's wrong! I thought we were just going to spar! He's freaking still half-asleep or something; his Flames are everywhere!"

"I know," Gokudera said when he realized that the sides of the door was beginning to smoke, obviously confused about whether to burn or not due to the heat from the Flames and the water gushing around it.

"Eh? Did I come at the wrong time?" a new voice asked.

"Dino? When did you get here?" Gokudera exclaimed.

The head of the Chiavorone grinned as he walked towards them. "A few hours ago. You guys seem to be having a problem…" Gokudera realized that the Cloud Guardian was following several feet away behind him, his disinterested demeanor now poked at by the strange occurrence inside Yamamoto's room.

"Yeah, how the hell do you calm the Flames that do the calming?"

As if answering his question, Hibari walked past them and straight into the room, tonfa out, and the water splashed as he went through it. The others looked at each other nervously before hearing a prominent whack. The water shuddered and fell, pushing everyone down as it flowed down the hallway and mostly likely down the stairs into the first floor. The Rain Flames lining the room disappeared into the air and suddenly all was quiet.

Yamamoto blinked, trying to get everything into focus, and looked around, completely confused. He was sitting in the middle of his room with his katana on the floor next to him. He touched the side of his head, feeling what would probably become a bruise later on. Everything was drenched in water, including the man now looming over him, yukata a little singed at the edges.

"What did I do?"

In an instant, Hibari had hit him again across the face with a tonfa, knocking Yamamoto completely on the floor. He bent down, grabbed the front of the Rain Guardian's T-shirt, and slammed him against the closest resemblance of a wall: the damp wooden bed frame. "What was that, Yamamoto Takeshi?"

'This confirms it,' the Cloud Guardian thought acidly. 'He's just emotionally unstable.'

Yamamoto attempted a chuckle, answering. "A bad dream?" The corpse flashed through his mind again, and he looked away. "Sorry…" He felt the hand on his shirt loosen and to his surprise, he felt his right hand being lifted until it was at face level. Yamamoto looked back at Hibari, whose face was now slightly obscured by their hands. A wave of realization washed over him when he realized what the Cloud Guardian was looking for. "Ah… they both shattered…"

Then, Yamamato almost swore that it didn't happen, but his hand was sensitive enough to feel the light squeeze Hibari gave him before letting go and standing up. "I'm going back." He stormed out.

Outside, the others were just getting to their feet after being washed down the hallway and being deposited randomly along the building while Hibari stalked casually past them, acting as if the entire second and first floors of the Vongola mansions were not soaked with water.

.

Spanner sighed as he unwrapped another lollipop. "I wonder what's taking them so long."

The door clicked, and the four sighed when Lambo entered. The Thunder Guardian chuckled nervously. "Uh… the others might take a while."

"Sounds like fun," Gamma commented.

"Ugh, we can't afford to waste any more time. We still don't know the location of their laboratories," Irie said, shaking his head. "I've done a search into their systems, but they've protected it pretty well. I've only managed to find two locations, and both are mostly likely just outposts."

"But there has to be someone with connections in at least one of them, right?" Gamma asked.

"Yeah, so we'll need two teams as soon as possible. Now if only they'd hurry up…"

* * *

Uh… parts of this turned out funnier than I wanted… But I like writing funny stuff XD. Okay, so I'm going to be going Anime Expo, so the next chapter will be up the week after. Sorry it's kind of late; I'm being attacked by writer's block lately. (Notice the lack of movement in the Present Arc…)

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you again in the week of July 5th! (I think from now on, I'm just going to release one chapter a week around Friday-Sunday unless I go on a writing spree because of a lack of summer homework. Unfortunately, classes start again next week… Well… it's fortunate too, because I love my class. Haha I'm weird.)


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

To KaruKyan: Thanks for pointing that out! I'll start marking "Present" and "Future" before the segments from now on! XD Actually, at one point I started to confuse myself, but I wasn't really sure if I really needed to mark each scene.

To kyokokyoyahibari: The "Varia Mist Flame user" from the last chapter was Fran, not Chrome, just to clear things up. Chrome hasn't appeared yet in this story. T.T Sorry for the confusion.

To CookieMonster525: XD I'm glad that you've fallen in love with 8018. Yeah, Yamamoto's rings did shatter.

* * *

-Present-

'Okay! I'm going to figure everything out today!'

"We'll go on ahead," Tsuna told Yamamoto as he dragged a confused Gokudera to the school building, leaving the Rain Guardian alone with Hibari at the gate.

"Wait, Tsuna!" Yamamoto called after then, but they had already left. 'I said 'today,' not 'right now'! Uh oh… this is awkward…' he thought nervously as he turned around to face Hibari, who was intentionally diverting his attention to something else in the distance, eyes averting from Yamamoto's.

"What do you want?" Hibari asked him curtly.

Yamamoto chuckled. "Well, I was hoping we could talk." He continued to attempt to make eye contact with the other and succeeded briefly as an intense glare struck him down and just as quickly looked away.

"There's nothing to talk about," Hibari hissed before walking pointedly past the other towards the main building. The bell rang, jolting Yamamoto away from his thoughts, and he ran for the classroom, followed by a few relieved looking students who had obviously noticed the lack of the Disciplinary Committee Head's presence as they hurried to their classes, already late.

'He didn't even wait until the bell rang…'

.

"Ah, I can't believe this!" Yamamoto sighed as he rested his head on his desk during lunch, speaking to Tsuna sitting on the table of the desk next to him. "He's avoided me seven times already in the past two days!"

"Hibari?" Gokudera asked, joining Tsuna and Yamamoto.

"No!" Yamamoto exclaimed as he sat up quickly, a faint blush spreading across his face. "That's…"

"Did you try to start the conversation the same way each time?" Gokudera cut him off.

Yamamoto stopped and thought for a moment.

_First Try: "I was hoping we could talk."_

_Second Try: "Hey Hibari! Can we talk a bit?"_

_Examples of the Other Attempts: "Hibari! Do you think we could talk for a few minutes?"_

"Maybe?"

Gokudera whacked him across the top of the head. "Idiot! You have to be more firm with that guy!"

"What do you mean by firm?" Yamamoto asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Stop being so polite!"

"Huh? But…" The Rain Guardian couldn't fathom how not to be polite; it was a trait innately built into him.

"Just watch. Those seven times are going turn into seventy soon."

"Ah, okay okay!" Yamamoto laughed. "Thanks." He jumped to his feet. "I'll try again!"

Gokudera looked at Tsuna, who smiled at him. "Better than my advice," he mouthed to the Storm Guardian, who grinned as the Rain Guardian ran off. "Wait, did he just…"

.

"Hibari!" Yamamoto yelled as he threw open the door to the Disciplinary Committee Room, finally completely mentally prepared to "stop being polite" after several minutes of pacing in front of the room, only to find it occupied solely by Kusakabe.

"Kyou-san's on the roof," the vice-president told him, amused.

"Ah… thanks…" Yamamoto quickly closed the door, blushing from embarrassment, and ran to the stairs.

Kusakabe shook his head, returning to the papers.

.

"Hibari!" Yamamoto yelled as he threw open the door to the roof. He sighed inwardly in relief when he found his target napping in the middle of the otherwise empty rooftop. That feeling of relief was instantly replaced by an innate fear: he had awoken Hibari from his usual nap, and now he will be bitten to death.

As predicted, the prefect slowly got to his feet, tonfa drawn, and advanced towards Yamamoto, eyes glaring at him from lidded half-asleep pupils.

"Hey… can we talk now?" Yamamoto asked nervously and promptly ducked to avoid a swing from the tonfa.

"Look," he sidestepped, "I just," he jumped, "want to," he ducked again, "talk!" He grabbed the tonfa before it connected with his face. "Can't you stop and listen to me for once!" Yamamoto yelled, finally snapping and unconsciously taking Gokudera's advice.

Hibari tried to yank his weapon from the other's hand. "There's nothing to talk about," he said, looking away.

"How can you say something like that? First you kiss me, and then…" he let go of the tonfa. "I'm confused… it hurts…"

Hibari finally looked him in the eyes and saw frustration. The usual grin, fake or real, was gone, just like before. "You're confused?" he repeated Yamamoto's words.

Yamamoto put a hand up to his head, blushing. "Geez, yes! I'm confused!"

"You're not disgusted…" He had the slightest hint of what his words really implied, but, being Hibari, the thought was immediately replaced by confusion, not that he showed it. 'What?'

Yamamoto looked at him in surprise. "Why would I be?" He suddenly realized what Hibari was getting at and tried to fix the situation. "Ah, I mean… I know we're both guys, but I don't see what's wrong with it."

Hibari both looked away and swung his tonfa at the same time, his body reacting to two different emotions at once. Yamamoto managed to catch the tonfa, saving himself from a blow to the face yet again. "Stop assuming things. I don't like you…" Hibari said, his words coming out in his usual murderous tone, but Yamamoto could feel the underlying panic that accompanied it.

"But I like you!" he blurted accidentally on impulse.

Hibari looked back at him, not knowing whether or not to glare or smirk. "I thought you just said you're confused."

"Huh? I… Wait! What about you? If you didn't like me, why did you kiss me?"

"Because you were so heavy, I was trying to get you to wake up and get off of me," the other snapped.

"That can't be the only reason! You could have just knocked me off!"

"Stop talking already. You're too loud," Hibari sighed, getting annoyed when he realized that Yamamoto would only continue pursuing the subject.

"It's your fault for avoiding me the past few days!"

"No I wasn't."

"Yes you…" Yamamoto gasped when the other suddenly grabbed his collar and pulled him down until their lips crashed together. 'What the…'

"Ow!" Yamamoto flinched when Hibari bit him again. The other pulled away, licking the blood from his lips. "That was…"

"You wouldn't stop talking!" Hibari returned too quickly, apparently surprised at what he had done. He drew a hand up to cover his face, and ran away before Yamamoto could gather his thoughts.

'Was he blushing?' Yamamoto grabbed his head with both his hands, ears and face now fully flushed. 'Ah! What's happening?'

Meanwhile, Hibari stormed down the stairs, furious at how the other could assume such a ridiculous thing as "like."

-Future-

"What a day…" Dino chuckled as he wiped his hair with the towel. He had phoned Romario for a change of clothes earlier, but the other had still not returned from the hotel in the nearby city. Squalo, however, looked quite at ease besides the fact his black leather clothing stuck to his skin like wet toilet paper. The others in the room watched him uncomfortably as the water continued to drip onto the floor from his hair and clothes.

"This is coming from your paycheck!" they heard Gokudera before the door flew open, and the Storm Guardian stomped in, followed by Yamamoto. The former had changed into a dry suit, and Yamamoto made do with a yukata borrowed from Gokudera since nothing else would fit; his own clothes were in need of drying.

"Ah, it isn't that bad right?" the Rain Guardian chuckled. "We just need to leave the heaters running in the hallway for a few days."

"Electricity costs money!" The two suddenly looked at Lambo.

"Uh…" the Thunder Guardian gulped. "Can we start already?" he said, diverting the subject away from his ability to use Lightning as a weapon or, to put it simply, free energy.

"Your Cloud Guardian isn't here," Gamma commented.

The opening of the door answered him, and Kusakabe and Romario stepped in. "I will be representing Kyou-san. Please start without hesitation," the former announced.

"Ah, my clothes…" Dino began happily, walking towards Romario.

"Ah! Change after! Start!" Gokudera burst out.

"Okay!" Irie exclaimed, and everyone looked at him, surprised by the sudden change in outbursts. He typed a few keys and brought out a map onto the main screen in the room. "Look, we have two locations that we need scouting out. The Fuoco protected their systems pretty well, so we'll have to manually access their computers at one of their outposts. If their computers are still protected even at their bases, we'll just have to find someone there who knows the passwords into their systems."

"Oh, so you want us to storm their bases?" Squalo asked. "Can't you do that yourself?"

"It can't be helped. Two of the Guardians are injured," Spanner commented calmly.

"Well it's their fault for being so…" the Varia member continued.

"Um… I'm right here," Yamamoto chuckled.

"Shut up, trash! It's your fault for being so careless!" he snapped.

"Yamamoto completely destroyed three of their warehouses and acquired some of the blueprints for the bullets they are using," Gamma cut in. "If you ask me, that's quite an accomplishment."

"You…" Squalo snarled as he drew his sword.

"I heard once that your leader sided with the main Vongola base willingly because the family was in danger from us. This is another one of those times," Gamma replied calmly, not even batting an eye to the impending danger.

"Ah, it's okay," Yamamoto said, chuckling as he stood between them. "Thanks, Gamma, but I'm used to it already."

"Continuing," Irie interrupted. "We'll have the Varia go to this location and several of ours go to the other outpost. Our main objective is to bring back the password."

Squalo sighed. "Well that's going to be a pain in the ass. Have to make sure Bel doesn't kill them too quickly then…"

"Then you'll go?" Giannini asked eagerly.

"I'll tell Xanxus, but I'm not promising you anything," Squalo returned. He looked at Irie. "Give me the address and report. We'll have it finished by the day after tomorrow."

"You did read the previous reports on the bullets, right?" Irie asked as he gave Squalo one of the folders.

Squalo shrugged. "A piece of crap like that's not going to stop the Varia."

"Then have a safe… uh… mission," Irie told him.

"Whatever." The door closed.

Gamma looked at the remaining people incredulously. "So who's going to the other warehouse?"

"Are you volunteering?" Gokudera asked him.

"Well, he's had experience fighting them before, so I think Gamma is a definite choice," Spanner said, nodding to the Giglio Nero Thunder Flame user. He looked at Kusakabe expectantly.

"I'll tell Kyou-san about the mission, but…"

"Hibari's still not fully healed yet…" Yamamoto suddenly said.

"Same goes for you, Baseball Idiot," Gokudera growled.

"Ah…" Yamamoto chuckled. "But…"

"I'll go!" an enthusiastic roar came from the door. Ryohei had miraculously slept through all the commotion earlier.

"That makes two…" Irie pondered.

"I guess I should go too, then," Gokudera announced.

"No! You are the acting leader of Vongola. We can't have anything happen to you," Irie insisted.

"What?"

"Lambo should go!" Giannini tried to add some of his own advice.

"Me?" the cow stuttered.

"Then I'll be the last," Dino finally spoke, making them turn to him. "A team of four is good enough, right?"

"But you're…"

"Oh, come on. It'll be okay."

"No way! If the Chiavorone loses you…" Gokudera exclaimed.

"Romario, can you start making preparations?"

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?" the Storm Guardian exclaimed.

Yamamoto chose this time to sneak out of the room, leaving the group to their rising argumentations.

.

The Rain Guardian leaned against one of the walls, closing his eyes. 'Ah… I'm kind of tired again…' He felt himself falling, faster and faster, before a hand roughly cut off his descent. He opened his eyes slightly. "Hibari?"

"Sheesh, keep talking like that and everyone will find out!" Gokudera's voice answered him.

Yamamoto chuckled, trying to get to his feet. "Sorry."

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah! Of course!" the swordsman answered enthusiastically.

Gokudera frowned. "Hey maybe we should take a look at your wound again. What if that bullet was one of the new ones?"

"Nah, I'm fine," Yamamoto insisted. "Please don't worry about me."

Gokudera sighed. "Okay."

"So how did the meeting turn out?"

"Gamma, Ryohei, and Lambo are going. Irie will back them up from here."

"Ah, only three?"

"Well, it's a considerably smaller outpost than the one we sent the Varia to, so as long as one of them doesn't do something stupid, they should be fine. Dino is going back to his Family to gather information."

"Ah… that's good to hear…" Yamamoto grinned.

"So you just rest. Don't worry about them; two of them are Guardians after all. You yourself took down three of the enemy's hideouts yourself."

"Please don't say that like it's a good thing."

"Sorry." Gokudera sighed. "Well, go get some rest. It'll be a while before the others start the mission."

"Okay," Yamamoto agreed obediently.

.

"Kyoya!" Dino called out happily as he went into the room and found his target sitting in his usual spot, calmly sipping tea. "You missed the entire meeting!"

"What use is it to go to a meeting of herbivores?" the other replied irritably after he placed his cup down.

Dino sighed. "Well… they've decided not to allow you or Yamamoto to go to the next operation."

"That doesn't concern me," the reply came quickly.

"Oh, so cold," he commented, pretending to shiver. "That reminds me; I just saw Yamamoto after the meeting. I think he almost fainted. Gokudera's been wondering if it was really one of _those _bullets that hit him." Dino began to leave, grinning. "Just to tell you." The paper door slid shut.

Hibari gave his innocent cup of tea a glare.

.

Gokudera yawned, stretching. "Why are we waiting for them to call in? I thought Squalo said they'll have it finished in two days."

"Well, there's always the possibility that they'll attempt to storm the outpost and finish the mission ahead of time to show off," Spanner said.

"It's one o'clock at night. Why would they bother…"

"Night is a good cloak," Spanner returned.

"Fine," Gokudera grumbled as he put his head down on the desk. "Wake me if there's anything then…" As if something out there was listening to him, the computer screen suddenly gave a beep, causing everyone to jump up.

"Hey… the Varia are trying to call in. Should I put them on screen?" Giannini asked.

"Yeah," Gokudera said grumpily as he put his hands up to cover his ears. 'Perfect timing…' he thought sarcastically.

"We have a situation!" Lussuria yelled into the screen, his voice bouncing around the room. They heard strained psychotic laughing in the background that sounded suspiciously like a certain self-proclaimed prince.

"What? What's going on?" Irie asked them.

"Ah, they've hit Bel with one of the bullets, and I think he's dying!"

"Take the bullet out then!" Gokudera told him, starting to feel the panic emanating from the person on the screen.

"We can't get close enough to him! His Storm Flames are melting stuff around him too! I tried sending some of my Sun Flames from afar, but I think I made it worse!"

'Made it worse? So other Flames do affect the process…' Irie thought. He came to a realization. "Have Squalo send his Rain Flames into him!"

"What?"

"The Rain attribute should slow down the process long enough for you to take the bullet out. Hurry!" Irie told them. "Good thing Bel has enough Flames to keep the bullet absorbing," he muttered under his breath.

Lussuria turned away from the screen. "Oh Squalo!" The screen suddenly went black as the device on the other end was either shut off or destroyed.

"Maybe we should postpone the other group's departure…" Irie said.

"Sheesh, what a mess. We'll tell them in the morning. They need their rest…" Gokudera sighed. He stared back at the blank screen. "Let's hope the Varia's alright… I'd rather not clean up after them."

.

Gamma glanced at the map on the passenger seat again to make sure he was heading in the right direction and returned his attention to the road, sighing. "This is for the pride of Lady Uni…" he muttered to himself.

"Yeah! We'll fight to the extreme!" someone suddenly yelled from the backseat, causing Gamma to slam on the breaks.

"What? How'd you…" he exclaimed, turning around to see Ryohei and Lambo.

"Huh? We've been here the whole time!" Ryohei replied, grinning.

"Uh… Ryohei wanted to be ready for the departure so he dragged me with him to sleep in the car were supposed to use to go to the base in the morning," Lambo explained nervously. "Then you got in without noticing us and started driving…"

'And I had to accidentally choose that car!' Gamma thought in remorse.

"Look, I know you want help your Family, but it won't do them any good if you got killed," the cow said as calmly as he could.

"Yeah! We'll help avenge your comrades to the extreme!" Ryohei said, grinning.

"You're lying," Gamma suddenly burst out.

"Huh?" Lambo said, confused.

"We were the ones who helped Byakuran murder your boss. There's no way you'd help us out like this," he said, putting a hand to his forehead.

"But Tsuna would've helped you regardless."

"Yeah! He'd never leave a person in need alone!" Ryohei backed him up. "I thought you met Tsuna!"

"He was ten years younger…"

"Tsuna is always Tsuna, no matter what age he was," Ryohei declared. "And now, we have to honor what the Tenth Boss wanted, no matter how we feel about the situation."

Gamma chuckled. "He means that much to you?"

"Yes," they replied resolutely.

"Hmph…" he stepped on the gas. "Then let's get this over with. We'll find that 'peace' your boss loved so much."

.

Yamamoto yawned, rolling off the sofa by accident. "Ow… I miss my bed," he sighed, sitting up and rubbing the bruise on his head. He had slept in the one lounge on the first floor that wasn't soaking wet from the earlier disaster, but unfortunately, it only sported a two person sofa far too short for Yamamoto's height. Gokudera forcibly kicked him out of the meeting room earlier when he attempted to return, insisting that he rest.

A knock on the door made Yamamoto jump to his feet so that the visitor wouldn't see that he had just fallen off the couch. "Come in?" he called out uncertainly. It couldn't be Gokudera, who would normally barge into the room if it was unlocked.

Kusakabe came into the room, holding a small box.

"Hey!" Yamamoto greeted him casually. "What's up?"

"I was told to give these to you," Kusakabe told him, opening the box and presenting its contents to him.

"Hm?" Yamamoto looked inside to find a mound of rings, all fit with blue stones.

"Kyou-san was going to toss these out, but yours had shattered."

Yamamoto chuckled, scratching his head. "Thanks."

Kusakabe shook his head. "Don't thank me."

"Hm…" Yamamoto took out one of the rings, examining it. "Uh… I don't need this many…" he looked back at the pile.

"Just take them, or they'll seriously end up in the trash."

Yamamoto chuckled. "What a waste. Why does he collect so many Rings if he doesn't need them?"

"He doesn't. Kyou-san only takes Cloud and Rain Rings. He usually leaves the others alone."

"Rain? Can he use Rain Flames?" Yamamoto asked curiously. He had never heard of the Cloud Guardian using anything in combat other than his Cloud Flames, some Box Weapons, and his tonfa.

"Actually, I've never seen Kyou-san use Rain Flames, but he still takes these Rings. It was only today that he told me to dispose of them…"

"Ah… I see," Yamamoto chuckled lightly. "Well, tell him thanks for me then!"

"Of course." Kusakabe bowed.

.

'Good thing the water didn't get here…' Yamamoto walked to the center of the massive underground training room, the sound his footsteps echoing off the walls.

"Okay!" he said out loud enthusiastically as he slipped one of the rings, a silver one with a small oval blue stone, on his right middle finger. Taking a deep breath, he drew out his Flames into the ring, illuminating the already fairly lit room with a blue hue, and inserted the flickering flames into one of his Rain attribute boxes.

A dog materialized before him, wagging its tail. It gave a happy bark and sat down, awaiting its orders. Yamamoto chuckled, bending down to pet it. "Nice to see you too, Jirou."

Jirou barked and nudged its nose at its master's hand. "Hm?" Yamamoto looked at the ring just in time to see the stone dissolve into dust and the metal split in two from the force of the breaking stone. Its remains fell to the floor; the clang of metal on concrete echoed throughout the room.

"Ah… that's going to be a problem later…" Yamamoto grinned. Jirou licked his face concernedly, and the grin fell. "Sorry…" he said has he petted the dog. "I'll stop pretending in front of you." He sighed, resting his head against the dog. "Ah… I'm still kind of sleepy…"

Jirou whined and licked the Rain Guardian's face worriedly when the other suddenly slumped on him limply.

* * *

Hello! Ah, life is wonderful… Anime Expo was awesome XD. Oh, and I finally found out how to make those cute little symbol things. Ah... it didn't show... the ALT plus number symbols I mean haha! Anyways, thanks for reading, and I'll see you again next week!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

-Present-

"Hey Yamamoto, you're not going to die on us right?" Gokudera teased him during lunch the next day when he saw the baseball lover resting his head on his desk looking half dead.

"I'm alive," Yamamoto assured him but made no effort to get up. "Yup…"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Tsuna asked, concerned.

"Yeah!" Yamamoto gave him a weak grin. "Just not enough sleep…"

"Wow, did you stay up all night studying for once?" Gokudera didn't expect a "yes" at all but decided not to ask the other possibility he had in his mind.

"Nah," Yamamoto chuckled. "Just thinking…"

Gokudera sighed. "When you don't need to think, you think too much."

"Maybe," Yamamoto grinned, sitting up and stretching. "Hey let's go to the cafeteria and grab some lunch. I'm starved."

However, the change of scenery didn't do much for his worries. Yamamoto sighed, eyes unfocused, as he stared at his food, to the concern of Tsuna and Gokudera.

'Hibari kissed me again yesterday… Does that mean that he likes me? I mean… he's cute and all but… Ah! Do I like him? But, he's Hibari and… and…' His food came back into focus for a split second. 'I wonder what kind of food Hibari likes…'

"Hey, Baseball Idiot! You were the one who wanted to eat, so eat!" Gokudera whacked him.

"Huh? Oh, okay!" He began eating slowly, completely ignoring the taste in favor of concentrating on his own jumbled thoughts.

'If he didn't like me, he would've just bitten me to death again, right?' He ate a bite of rice. 'But he didn't and… No way! Did I just think he was cute earlier?' He drank some of the soup. 'It's normal to think people are cute, even if one doesn't like them, right?' He ate a piece of the orange. 'But… I kind of want to kiss him agai… No! Bad thoughts! Go away!' Rice. 'He's Hibari, so there's no way…' Cooked fish. 'I…' Rice. 'Impossible!' Soup. 'Orange… wait the orange is gone, so rice again.' Fish. Rice. Fish. Soda.

Yamamoto almost slammed the soda back onto the table, defeated. 'I like him…'

"I said eat! Not eat fast!" Gokudera exclaimed, having watched Yamamoto eat faster and faster the past few minutes.

"I'm fmphine!" Yamamoto managed, trying to swallow the last bite.

"Ah! Don't talk with your mouth full!"

Tsuna chuckled at the two's bickering. 'At least Yamamoto doesn't seem depressed,' he tried to convince himself.

The rest of Yamamoto's food disappeared within minutes and the Rain Guardian left just as abruptly, promising them that he'll see them during class and that he had to take care of some business. Tsuna and Gokudera gave each other a confused glance before turning back to Yamamoto's retreating back.

"Any idea what's up?" Gokudera asked.

"Kind of…"

"What do you think?"

"You say it."

"Aw, come on, I asked first!"

Tsuna laughed awkwardly. "I'd rather not misinterpret."

.

"Hibari?" Yamamoto called out carefully as he stepped onto the roof. Amazingly enough, the skylark was once again on the roof, apparently taking his afternoon nap. Although Yamamoto knew waking him meant death, he couldn't resist the temptation. He thought that he might as well carry on since he took the trouble of nearly choking to death on his lunch just for a few minutes to spare during the lunch period.

Hibari didn't move this time, choosing to ignore the approaching Rain Guardian in favor of an attempt to resume his nap in peace, hoping that Yamamoto would get the point and stay away. He decided to slightly open one eye only to find that the Rain Guardian had managed to cross the roof and is now a foot or so above his face.

"What the hel…" Hibari made the mistake of sitting up too quickly and both of the Guardians found themselves bent over, hands clutching their foreheads in pain.

Yamamoto laughed, rubbing at the small bruise as a familiar weight pressed against his stomach: the tonfa.

"What do you want?" Hibari asked dangerously, a hand lowering from his head. He had instinctually rubbed his forehead after the impact but forced his hand down to stop that display of weakness.

"To talk?" Yamamoto managed to subdue his laughter. "We didn't exactly finish yesterday."

"There's nothing to talk about," Hibari said, looking away, but it was it too late. Yamamoto had already detected the developing blush.

Yamamoto thought for a moment before a "brilliant" idea struck him.

"Would you rather kiss then?"

Hibari answered him with a quick whack in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain. "I… take that as a no…" Yamamoto chuckled as Hibari got to his feet, his face flushed in anger.

"If you dare suggest that again…"

"You're the one who started it," Yamamoto answered, daring to look the other in the eye. He could taste blood; he had bit his tongue when Hibari hit him. Another ingenious question graced his tongue. "Hey, why do you bite me every time anyway?"

"Isn't it obvious? You taste good," Hibari answered a little too quickly, earning a blank stare from Yamamoto. The skylark didn't like where this was going. "What?" he demanded.

"You think I… taste good?" Yamamoto asked, before blushing, hesitating on the last two words.

Hibari's eyes narrowed. "What's wrong with that? You do…" He finally realized what he had said and took flight in the opposite direction.

Yamamoto got to his feet, ignoring his still stinging stomach. "Hey! Stop running away!"

"I'm not running away!" Hibari retorted, whirling around. He then remembered the situation, and his body took another step back, away from the "danger." Meanwhile, Hibird landed on the fence nearby and observed the scene curiously, head cocked to one side. Deciding that it was just one of his master's usual hobbies, he began to sing the Namimori Anthem to provide adequate background music for the Disciplinary Committee Head running in awkward squiggly ovals, apparently both trying to retreat and hit his pursuer at the same time.

-Future-

Jirou whined and licked his master's face, but received no response. His ears drooped as he lowered Yamamoto onto the floor as carefully as possible, letting the Rain Guardian slide off of him, and bolted out of the training room to seek help.

Jirou finally found the source of the voices and the familiar scent of cigarettes behind a closed door well within the depths of the currently dark mansion. He scratched at the door, whining, but only heard the panicked shouting of voices of people both physically in the room and elsewhere yelling through speakers. He barked several times and still received no change in the pattern of noise propagating from the interior of the room.

Giving up, the dog ran in the opposite direction and jumped out of one of the opened windows, determined to reach a source of help before the remaining Rain Flames keeping it outside of its box dissipated. He found the familiar scent of feathers and began to follow it, the moon lighting his way across the Italian countryside.

.

Gokudera tapped his fingers on the desk impatiently in sync with the occasional keystroke Irie gave the computer, letting his mind wander in place of his much needed slumber despite the others having told him to rest his eyes for a few minutes until the Varia decided to phone back. He wondered emptily at the possibility of failure. What did that mean for Vongola, for the underground world? Not only would the Fuoco rise to power, but Vongola and many of the other older mafia families would be put to the mercy of a newcomer and subjugated to negotiations run by fear. In other words, everything Tsuna had fought for, had wanted, would disappear within a matter of weeks. Under no circumstances could he let that happen, especially, Gokudera sighed, now that Tsuna's son was somewhere in the world.

'Why didn't he tell me?' he thought. Agitation had replaced the earlier shock and disbelief, but no matter how much he tried to reason with himself, only jealously of this child he had never seen, not known since a few days prior, flooded his mind. Gokudera sighed again and finally decided to put his head down on the desk, closing his eyes. As with many prolonged decisions, at that moment, the screen flashed.

Gokudera jumped to his feet like a cat scared out of its slumber. "What's the situation?" he exclaimed, almost facing the wrong direction. The lines on the computer screen were blurred with static and slowly came into focus, accompanied by muffled voices.

"Ah! Hold still stupid!" they heard Squalo yelling alongside another sound that resembled hysterical laughter. Gokudera assumed this was Bel; the self-proclaimed prince's reaction to his own blood seemed to have not changed much through the years. A few bullets rang out, blocked by a sudden wall of water rushing from one end of the screen. More screams were heard, presumably from the several men Squalo had just taken out.

'Great… just what I wanted to hear…' Gokudera thought. "What's the situation?" he repeated, calmer this time.

"That should do it!" Lussuria suddenly popped into the screen, hands covered in blood. "It worked! It worked! It's beautiful!"

"What worked?" Gokudera asked, confused at the other's excitement.

"Using Squalo's Flames to heal Bel! Ingenious, Irie!" Lussuria said, obviously pleased by how the healing had went. Gokudera had to put a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing when he saw Bel come into view in the background, sitting up. Aside from the mass of blood that stained his clothes, Bel's messy hair had grown several feet, along with a thick beard and moustache due to the massive amount of Sun Flames Lussuria had used on him to close the wound.

"Have you gotten the password yet?" Irie asked nervously, diverting their attention away from the Storm Flame Varia member.

"Nothing! No one here knows anything!" Squalo returned and pushed Lussuria aside before the latter could say anything. "What the hell is wrong with them? An entire base and no one knows shit!" He looked to the side, eyes widening. "Hey! Wait!" he yelled out and disappeared again.

Lussuria returned, looking quite pleased. "Oh dear, it looks like Boss is going destroy the place with us still in it. We really must go…" He sighed. "If only Fran was here. Maybe Bel wouldn't have gotten hit. Oh, I simply must take a picture of Bel later to give to Fran!"

"Where's Fran?" Gokudera asked.

"Huh? We left him back in Japan with the Tenth's cousin."

Gokudera froze, not believing his ears. "Cousin? Didn't you say…"

"It's brother, you dumbass!" Squalo's voice yelled from the background. "Wait, Boss! Don't…" They heard an explosion.

"Huh? Oh, yes. Brother. My bad!" Lussuria laughed in a singsong voice as Gokudera saw fire appear in the background. "Why do I keep on forgetting? Oh dear, Boss is starting to blow the place up." They saw a piece of metal fly across the screen behind him. "See you later!"

"Wait…" Gokudera began, but the screen had already blanked, leaving a room full of wide eyed mafia members on the verge of both panic and laughter, an odd combination indeed.

"Gokudera?" Giannini called, regaining his composure first as Spanner allowed himself a chuckle.

Gokudera finally snapped and started laughing, clasping a hand to his head. "What the hell… 'Brother'…"

.

Hibari suddenly sat up when he heard the sound of scratching. His eyes darted quickly about the dark room, scanning for the source of the noise. A whine made him jump soundlessly out of his futon, tonfa out. He moved quietly to the door, feeling it with the tips of his fingers before suddenly wrenching it open, swinging his tonfa in the process.

He struck fur instead of flesh and immediately slowed his swing to avoid as much of the damage as he could to the animal. Nevertheless, Jirou had already jumped on him in relief of finding a familiar person, knocking them both over and landing messily on the floor. Hibari grimaced as felt some of his still healing gunshot wounds ache in protest. That combined with the tongue now licking him did nothing to soften his irritation.

"What are you…" he began and recognized the dog. "Jirou?"

Jirou whined and got off of him, instead resorting to pulling at Hibari's yukata with its teeth, trying to drag him out the door.

"Did something happen to Yamamoto Takeshi?" he asked it. Jirou let go and barked in confirmation, wagging its tail violently.

.

"We have another incoming call," Irie announced.

"Just let them do what they want," Gokudera sighed.

"No… I think it's from… Ryohei?" Irie frowned, wondering if his instinctual assumption of the three already being at the location was true.

"Huh? Put him on." Gokudera hadn't thought of that possibility just yet.

"Ready to go to the extreme!" Ryohei yelled happily before a pool stick knocked him once on the head.

"You'll wake the entire base idiot!" Gamma hissed as Lambo caught the Sun Guardian and tried to shake him out of his temporary daze.

"I don't believe it! You're there already?" Gokudera yelled.

"Yup!" Ryohei roared happily, coming back and ducking nimbly to avoid another swing from Gamma's weapon.

"Hey listen. The other group couldn't find the password in the other base, so you have to make sure to check everywhere here. This is our last lead, so don't blow up the base before you find the password," Irie told them.

"Why would we blow up the base?" Gamma asked, confused. "It's just reconnaissance right?"

"Well the other one… uh Xanxus…" Irie frowned.

"I see," he chuckled. "Okay, got it."

"Okay, keep your headsets on. We'll communicate that way." The screen went blank and instead showed the pictures of the three, complete with a pulse and temperature monitor.

"Let's do this," Gamma said and his weapon exploded into a sea of green Flames.

.

Hibari entered the room, ignoring the burning sensation in his chest caused mostly by running from the Foundation to the Vongola mansion. He almost stopped briefly at the training room entrance, but his stubbornness kept him walking. He involuntarily put a hand over the left part of his chest that burned more than the other healing wounds. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but he still felt as if a hand had suddenly clenched over his stomach, squeezing him until he found no escape. Ignoring everything, he entered the room.

Yamamoto was more or less lying nearly facedown in the middle of the room, his back rising and falling slowly with peaceful breathes. If not for the location and the position of the Rain Guardian's slumber, Hibari would've just turned right around and went back home, probably even giving the other a whack with the tonfa before he left. He half ran over to Yamamoto and felt for a pulse, finding one, albeit a slow one. A quick glance to the side revealed what looked like a small pile of metal dust with a few flecks of blue.

'The ring…'

Jirou's worried bark brought him back to the current situation.

"Good job," he told the dog, who whined, unwilling to go back into its box. Hibari threw one of Yamamoto's arms over his shoulder and with a great amount of effort on his part, stood up. His own body shook in protest, but he clenched his teeth in determination and half carried, half dragged the Rain Guardian out of the training room.

.

"This doesn't look good…" Shamel threw a lead vest over Yamamoto and dragged a machine out of one of the cupboards.

"Why didn't you do that before?" Gokudera asked, trying to hide his own panic. They had been monitoring Ryohei and the others' progression into the base before Shamal called him about Yamamoto's condition.

"Hey! He said that the bullet went right throw so I assumed there wasn't any leftover debris from it!" Shamal retorted. "Now get out of the room; I have to take the x-ray."

"Sheesh, call me when you figure out what's wrong. I have to get back."

Shamal turned to him. "Something wrong with the others too?"

"Stupid Lawn Head went ahead to the base without telling us so we're manually telling them where to go."

The doctor shook his head, frowning. "Figures…"

Shamal went into the adjacent room to take the x-ray and stared at the results curiously, finding no traces of bullet remains in Yamamoto's chest. Frowning, he typed into the keyboard and did another scan, printing an outline of Yamamoto's body with Flame readings.

"I see…" Shamal muttered to himself as he went back to Yamamoto's room, finding Hibari waiting "patiently" outside, arms crossed. He had completely forgotten Hibari's presence as soon as the Cloud Guardian managed to dump Yamamoto onto the bed, but from the looks of it, Hibari had obediently left the room during the x-ray. The Cloud Guardian followed Shamal back inside and watched as the doctor hooked up a few machines to Yamamoto, waiting for the doctor to say something. Shamal turned on the switch and glanced at the readings, sighing. "As I suspected."

Still feeling the prickling of eyes on his neck, Shamal turned to Hibari. "He'll be fine. It's just an overflow of Rain Flames." He suddenly realized the sweat that ran down the side of Hibari's face and held back a grin. "You can use the bed over there to rest."

.

"How is he?" Gokudera asked.

"It's just an after effect of the bullet," Shamal responded, frowning.

"So it really was one of those…"

"The bullet took out a large portion of his Rain Flames when it made contact, and in response, his body created a massive amount of Flames to replace the sudden decrease. However, it seems that he was affected by his own Rain Flames since his body isn't used to having so much Flames at one time."

"That can happen?"

"Well… Yamamoto just happened to have the potential to possess an abnormally large amount of Flames, like Hibari. It looks like it's been suppressed all this time."

"I see," Gokudera looked over to Hibari, apparently napping on the other hospital bed in the room. "So, why is he still here?"

Shamal chuckled. "He just overexerted himself carrying Yamamoto here. Nothing to worry about."

Gokudera snorted.

"If you know what's good for you, you won't mention that to him when he wakes up. I just told him that it's the effects of Yamamoto's Rain Flames, but he probably knew already."

"Got it," Gokudera nodded and opened the door quietly.

"Tell the others to be careful already. I'm tired of treating people in the middle of the night."

"It's your job though," Gokudera retorted before leaving.

Shamal scratched his head, yawning. "You should try treating them for once. Also, all men…"

.

Gamma threw Lambo to the ground as a round of bullets flew over them, hitting the wall.

"Thanks…" Lambo muttered.

"Don't," Gamma told him. "I should be the one thanking your Family for saving Lady Uni."

Ryohei's kangaroo jumped on ahead and delivered a blow right at the gunman's face, knocking him out. "Tell me the password!" Ryohei demanded shaking the unconscious man by the collar.

"He can't hear you, you idiot!" he heard Gokudera say through his headset.

"Try looking for scientists. They usually know everything," Spanner advised.

They heard a scream behind them and whirled around to see one of the henchmen writhing on the floor, apparently struck by one of the stray bullets. Around him, purple Flames were dissipating into the wound on his chest.

"Not again…" Gamma managed before the room exploded in a rain of blood.

* * *

Ah! Sorry! I'm late T.T It's just been so hot… can't write. Melting…

Thank you for reading! ^.^"


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

To haganenocutie94: XD Thanks for mentioning the typo. Haha I agree though; Gokudear's a pretty awesome pet name for Gokudera. I wonder if he'll like it ^.^.

Quick Note: The phones they use can also work as web cams, so they can see each others' surroundings and talk at the same time. Yay! (Actually, I just realized how stupid it would be for Lussuria to carry a giant video camera like the ones they use in the news during a mission.)

* * *

-Present-

"Hey Hibari!" Yamamoto called out when he spotted the other in the hallway. The skylark suddenly whirled around and walked the other way, around a corner, and out of sight, his jacket barely missing the wall. "He ignored me!" the swordsman said, laughing it off.

"Did you say something stupid to him?" Gokudera asked.

"No! Of course I didn't…" he ended a little falteringly, not wholly believing himself. Yesterday, they had indeed run all around the roof half sparring until Yamamoto got knocked out by a final blow from Hibari. 'Maybe he just didn't like the crowding here?' he tried to convince himself that the skylark was not ignoring him on purpose.

"Speaking of which, did you ever manage to talk to Hibari?" Tsuna inquired.

Yamamoto chuckled. "Well… kind of… At least, it lasted longer than my other attempts."

"So, what did you talk about?" Gokudera asked, smirking a little too deviously for even Tsuna, who tapped him lightly on the arm.

"Ah… I think he hit me more than talked to me," Yamamoto admitted, chuckling. "But it was still better than being ignored."

Gokudera stared at him blankly before exclaiming, "You're weird!"

"Ah ha ha…"

"Well, at least he's not ignoring you anymore, right?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Tsuna realized that Hibari had done just that a few minutes earlier. "Uh, I mean…"

"It's okay," Yamamoto said, still smiling. "Thanks, you two."

"I'm sure he's not ignoring you," Tsuna encouraged.

"Yeah…"

"He's just running away," Gokudera added helpfully.

"Gokudera!" Tsuna reprimanded him while Yamamoto laughed.

Unfortunately for Yamamoto, the pattern continued for the rest of the day. Whenever he saw Hibari, he'd call out happily only to have the Disciplinary Committee Head turn around and walk off in the opposite direction. Again, the swordsman found himself chasing the skylark all over school and managed to finally catch him on the roof where the only exit was a one way trip to death off the roof, and Yamamoto knew Hibari wasn't suicidal, unless some of the situations his impossible ego got himself into counted.

"What do I have to do to make you stop following me?" Hibari asked him calmly, yet his fingers tapped impatiently as if they were itching for the tonfa hidden up his sleeve.

"Huh? I'm not following you," Yamamoto returned as innocently as he could and ducked just in time to avoid a concussion. "Okay okay!" he chuckled. "If you stop ignoring me, I'll stop following you… too much…" He dodged another blow after the last two words.

Hibari sighed, looking away. A spot under his the left part of his rib cage was bothering him and he wanted to take a nap already since he failed to take one during lunch between extracting punishment on a group of punks attempting to smoke on school grounds and avoiding a certain swordsman that was now standing in from of him. A thought hit him, and he decided to go with it. If it'll get him peace and quiet for the rest of the day, it was worth a try. "If I kiss you, will you go away?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Yamamoto considered the offer, frowning. "Nah."

"What…"

"Let me kiss you," he said with a grin on his face. "I'd rather not get bitten again," Yamamoto added when he saw the strange look on Hibari's face. "Deal?"

The tonfa lowered. "Hurry up and get it over with," he sighed, closing his eyes. It was better not to look. He was tired. He wanted to rest already.

Yamamoto on the other hand, took this as an invitation and moved in, kissing Hibari softly, experimentally. 'Is this how it is to kiss a guy?' the swordsman thought. 'Soft…' He gave the other a playful lick on the lips. 'Not bad…'

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, to his surprise, a hand instead of a tonfa pushed him back. "What was that?" Hibari demanded, his breath slightly too fast, the color of his cheeks deviating a little too much from the usual pale.

"Huh? I was even finished yet, and you had your eyes closed," Yamamoto teased, grinning. 'Did he mean the lick?'

"Yamamoto Takeshi…"

"A lick," he answered quickly and truthfully. 'Well, it was a lick, right?'

"And why did you feel the need to lick me?" Hibari asked dangerously, pressing the tonfa to the other's throat. "I thought we only agreed on a kiss."

"Hey! You bit me last time. It's only fair." The tonfa pressed closer. Yamamoto decided to try his luck. "Besides… you… kind of taste good too…" It came out a little strange, and the swordsman felt the beginning of a blush on his own face. 'Uh oh… I wonder what he's going to do now…'

To his surprise, the tonfa left his throat. "Get out."

"Huh?"

"Get off the roof. I'm going to take a nap. Don't even think of staying here."

"But…" The tonfa once again graced his neck, and he saw sleep deprived eyes staring back at him. "Ah, okay okay!" Yamamoto chuckled, beginning to walk away. He stopped a few feet away, his back still facing Hibari. "You know… I meant it when I said that I like you… please think about it…" he said seriously before waving a casual backwards goodbye.

Hibari stood his ground as he watched the other like a hawk until the door closed. Only then did he press the spot on the left side of his chest, finding a quickened pulse; it was burning.

-Future-

"Look at it burn!" Lussuria adjusted his sunglasses a fraction as he admired the flaming building. "Oh!" he perked up when the phone rang. "Miss us already?" he asked, grinning into the screen.

"Shut up!" Gokudera retorted before noticing the flames in the background. "What the hell happened?"

"Oh, Fuoco's just short one outpost, that's all. How is that Sun Guardian of yours doing? I wouldn't want him to get his beautiful body hurt! The muscles…"

"We've just lost contact with them. There's something blocking the communications device," Gokudera interrupted him.

Lussuria frowned. "Oh dear… should we head over there now?"

"I think they'll have enough on their hands without having to prevent you from blowing up the base," Gokudera returned, sighing.

"Aw, so that's a no?" Lussuria pouted.

"Voi! What are you talking about?" Squalo snatched the phone away. "Need us to take care of the other base too, trash?"

"No! I was just trying to make sure you guys were still alive," Gokudera retorted sarcastically.

"How sweet of you!" Lussuria said over Squalo's shoulder. The swordsman pushed him off.

"You owe us a nice long fully paid vacation, trash!"

"What the hell! You've been on vacation since last year!"

"Babysitting is not a vacation!" He detected a new presence in the vicinity but continued to argue.

"I bet you hired someone to do it for you!"

"As a matter of fact we di…" Squalo looked up and suddenly froze. The phone slid from his fingers, landing facedown.

"Hey! What's going on?" Gokudera's yelled, his voice muffled.

"You…" Xanxus said emotionlessly as Squalo gave his boss a baffled glance.

'How could Boss just say it that emotionlessly?' However, when the newcomer stepped into the flame light, he understood why. Lussuria let out a relieved breath next to him, also figuring it out.

The Varia healer laughed nervously. "You have a bad sense of humor, using that form," he commented to the man, who merely smiled at him amusedly, which didn't seem to fit his face at all. His lips began moving, but no sound came out.

Squalo squinted at the others mouth and only managing to make out the last word. 'Hurry.'

"Voi! Hurry what?" Squalo yelled at him. "Speak up!"

The man shrugged and waved. 'I'm busy at the moment, so I wish you good luck.' He disappeared.

Xanxus began walking away from the wreckage, the wind picking up as if suddenly freed from the man's overwhelming presence.

"Wait, what's going on?" Squalo called, running after him as the others shrugged and followed.

"Hiro's in trouble," Xanxus replied curtly.

.

"Ow… ew…" Lambo said, trying to wipe some of the blood off his face. He sat up, looking around for the other two. He found them easily enough; the explosion had thrown Ryohei against the wall and Gamma into one of the large smashed crates. "Gamma!" he ran to his fellow Thunder Flame user when he saw the streak of blood that was moving down Gamma's already bloody clothes.

"Gamma! Gamma!" Lambo called him repeatedly, panicking. "Oh no! What do I do? What do I…"

"Hey, can you move a bit?" Ryohei told Lambo, who jumped aside. He examined the wound, frowning. The explosion had thrown Gamma straight against a protruding piece of wood, impaling him.

Gamma stirred and looked down, frowning. "This looks kind of bad…"

"Nonsense! I will heal you to the extreme!" Ryohei declared. "Just have to get the wood out really fast…"

Lambo shivered and looked at his feet. A hand on his head made him look up to see Gamma grinning at him. "Don't worry; I'll be fine. Go find the password."

Lambo looked at Ryohei, who nodded.

"I'll be back as soon as I can!" Lambo reassured them a little shakily and ran off.

"Energetic kid…" Gamma commented as Ryohei tried to detach the piece of wood from the box before removing it from the other.

"It's been tough for him. Ever since Sawada-san's death…"

"You mean your previous boss?"

"No… well… him and… his mother…"

Gamma bit back a yell when Ryohei suddenly wrenched the wood from him. Fortunately, he immediately began feeling the Sun Flames healing the broken tissue. "What? Lambo's mother?"

"No! Uh…" Ryohei bit his lip, realizing that he might have disclosed too much.

Gamma looked away. "Sawada's mother… I thought we… we didn't…"

"No, you didn't. From what I've heard, she passed away during childbirth. Although… I don't think Tsuna's death didn't have a role in it."

The other thought for a bit. "So your former boss has a brother…"

"Yeah," Ryohei chuckled. "He's cute to the extreme! My sister's taking care of him. His name is… is…" He contemplated for a second. "I forgot!"

Gamma sighed, shaking his head.

"All done!" Ryohei announced while the other examined the wound.

"Thanks."

"Now let's go help Lambo! We'll find that password to the extreme!"

.

'Must… tolerate…' Lambo thought as he ran from corner to corner, trying to stay out of sight from any of Fuoco's men. Strangely enough, he was approached by no one and soon he found himself inside a room with many computer screens and keyboards. 'The command room?' He stepped cautiously towards the computers when he suddenly heard a sickening squelching sound along with a slightly uneven bulge under his shoes. Gulping, he looked down and saw the reason: bodies littered the floor, fresh blood still seeping out from the dead scientists.

Lambo jumped back and opened his mouth to scream when a hand suddenly prevented him from doing so. The hand let go, and he turned around only to let out a small, "Ah! You… how?"

The person placed an impatient finger in front of his mouth, and Lambo gulped, wondering what he should do. The newcomer walked over to the computers and began typing vigorously while Lambo stared on, still in shock at seeing _him_ here. 'Zombie?' He tried very hard to dismiss that possibility.

The other stopped typing and turned around, nodding to Lambo and giving him a familiar smirk that didn't fit his face at all. Lambo finally managed to see his face in full view under the computer light, and his helper promptly disappeared. 'Him? He's alive?'

"Lambo!" Ryohei ran into the room, followed by Gamma. They saw the bodies on the floor and the still dazed Lambo. A beep from the screens made them look up.

.

Hibari opened his eyes a fraction, letting the room come slowly into focus amid a white mist that threatened to cloud his vision again. He never expected that the effort it took to carry one man up the stairs from the basement would cause such a strain on his still healing wounds. Nevertheless, he sat up, ignoring the pain that spread throughout his body like fire. A chuckle made Hibari look left to see a quite awake Rain Guardian staring at him from his bed.

"I beat you," Yamamoto said, grinning slightly.

"I fail to understand the joke," Hibari retorted softly as he tried to stand. Unexpectedly, a wave of nausea hit him, forcing him to sit back on the bed to avoid landing face first onto the floor, or worse, Yamamoto's bed.

"Hey, are you okay?" Yamamoto's worried voice reminded the skylark that, irritatingly enough, that the swordsman had seen that momentary display of weakness.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" he hissed.

Yamamoto chuckled, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry… I didn't know I was so heavy…"

Hibari stared blankly at him when he realized that Dr. Shamal or one of the other herbivores had insensitively told Yamamoto what had Hibari had done for him.

"Thanks." Yamamoto's grin relaxed a little; Hibari thought that the other looked extremely tired, both mentally and physically. The swordsman leaned back into his pillow sighing and closing his eyes. "It's funny. When I want to sleep, I can't, but when I want to stay awake, something tells me to sleep." He opened his eyes wearily, smiling. "I kind of want to stay awake right now."

"If you are going to try flirting with me, then you can stop now," came the quick response.

"Ah, so you know what flirting is then?" Yamamoto asked, amused.

"I'm going to hit you."

"Don't you mean 'bite'?"

"Yamamoto Takeshi," he warned dangerously. Yamamoto could hear the killing intent in the other's voice; he would even admit that he could smell it in the air, but for a moment, he dared to believe that he heard something else in his own name, something that sounded like a cross between relief and another emotion he can't quite put a finger on, but it was definitely strange coming from the Cloud Guardian.

"Were you worried?" Yamamoto asked him.

"Why would I be worried?" Hibari looked away, crossing his arms.

Yamamoto laughed, "Now you look like you're pouting." To his surprise, the skylark jumped out of the bed with the grace of a predator, and a split second later the swordsman can feel the cold touch of steel against his throat.

"Hey! I didn't mean…" Yamamoto began, but Hibari pressed the metal harder into his throat, cutting him off.

Hibari, on the other hand, had wanted to land a quick finishing blow, but felt the world spinning as soon as his body left the bed. It was all he could do to make sure the tonfa stayed on the other's throat, but soon even that proved too much, and he felt himself falling. An arm grabbed his and pulled him up, keeping him from sliding to the floor.

"Hibari?" Yamamoto's worried voice called him. His body was on fire, muscles limp with pain, and again the clenching feeling on the left side of his chest took away his voice, not that he would've used it to call for help. He still had that much pride left.

Then, suddenly, everything started to fade as if a blanket of water extinguished the flames, the burning, and the pain. He opened his eyes and saw blue Flames, cool to the touch and soothing like a healing aura. He was laying half on Yamamoto's bed; head on the swordsman stomach and legs limp on the floor. Hibari hoisted himself up and began to get back on his feet, expecting pain but feeling completely normal. To his surprise, he was suddenly pulled down again by a pair of arms around his shoulders and once again found his head resting on Yamamoto's chest, although this time only separated by clothes.

"Let me go," Hibari said to him and realized that Yamamoto was shaking. "Yamamoto Takeshi," he warned again.

"So… sorry…" Yamamoto whispered. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have provoked you. You… you scared me… fainting like that…"

Hibari opened his mouth to snap back, but his left side had suddenly tightened again, stopping him. 'This is…' He sighed. "It's fine…"

Yamamoto perked up, surprised by the lack of venom in the other's voice. "Really?"

Hibari wiggled out of his grip and returned to his own bed. "I'm going back to sleep. Don't even think of doing anything strange." He pulled up the covers a little too forcefully and faced the other way, feeling the heat travelling up to his ears. He pulled the blankets up a little more to cover them.

Yamamoto grinned at the gesture. "I'll just stare at your beautiful sleeping face then."

"Shut up!" Hibari pulled the rest of the blankets over his head.

* * *

Phew… made it… Haha I'm a little worried; I'm not too sure what to write for the present arc. It'll be bad if it ended earlier than the future arc, which still has quite a way to go…

Anyways, thanks for reading! May the wind blow more so that the summer is less hot. T.T In my dreams…


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

Note: Hiro-chan (OC) is Tsuna's younger brother that Tsuna's mom died giving birth to after the events of the TYL Arc. Refer to Chapters 8 and 11 of this fic for info. Okay… to the story!

* * *

-Present-

"Hibari! Go out with me?"

Hibari stared at him for a full second, wondering if he had heard correctly. He hoped that the other was somehow sleep talking to him this lunch break, but the odds of Yamamoto sleep walking straight into the Disciplinary Committee Room right after class let out in less than a minute was, to saw the least, impossible.

"Are you sleepwalking?" He hoped anyway.

"Me? Nope, I'm wide awake!" Yamamoto answered eagerly.

"Then why are you speaking nonsense?"

"Well… I was just thinking that you never seem to leave the school much, so maybe you'll like to go the beach or something."

"No," came the flat reply.

"Hey, you don't have to be so blunt," Yamamoto said, chuckling as he sat down on one of the sofas.

"Why do you keep on crowding me?"

"I'm not…" A familiar tonfa to the throat silenced him. Deciding to act on one of his many suicidal ideas, Yamamoto pushed the tonfa away and lightly kissed the other before pulling away. "Because I like you." He ducked just in time.

"Would you stop touching me?" Hibari exploded, swinging at him again. The door swung open at that moment, revealing Kusakabe, a rain of papers flying towards the ground from his now empty hands. The scene in front of him looked normal enough: Yamamoto was on the verge of ducking again, and Hibari had his tonfa out ready to kill, but Kusakabe sworn he had just heard…

"Uh… excuse me." The Vice President quickly gathered the papers and slammed the door shut after him, leaving the two alone.

'Uh oh…' Yamamoto thought as he tensed his muscles, ready to run away at the slightest hint of murderous intent from the other, who was still blankly looking at the door. To his surprise, Hibari sighed and slumped down on the opposite sofa, trying to calm his breathing. 'Is he really…' The grin dropped. 'Is it because of me?'

"Okay, I'll stop…" Hibari looked up to see Yamamoto leaving. "I'm sorry; I'll stop…" he repeated, bowing quickly in apology. "I didn't know you hated it so much." He smiled a little sadly and walked away. The door closed, just like that.

"He's… gone?" Hibari put a hand on his forehead, still trying to calm his breathing, his heart still beating too fast from the kiss. "What the hell…"

.

"Yamamoto, what's wrong?" Tsuna asked after school.

"Rejected," his friend replied dejectedly.

"What? You were really going after Hibari?" Gokudera exclaimed, making the remaining students look in their direction, "For a game of baseball?" he added unconvincingly.

"Laugh all you want," Yamamoto said, chuckling. "I mean… it is kind of funny when you think about it."

At that moment, the door slammed open. "Hi… Hibari-san!" Tsuna exclaimed, but Yamamoto didn't bother lifting his head. "What brings you here?"

The prefect scanned the room and found his prey quickly, slumped on the desk and not looking at him. He opened his mouth to say something, caught himself, and merely said, "School's out already. Hurry home or I'll bite you to death." He left.

"He was looking at you," Gokudera muttered.

Yamamoto chuckled. "It's okay. You don't have to lie to me."

"It's true though. Sheesh, Baseball Idiot." He sighed, shaking his head. "You have the weirdest taste in people."

"But I'm friends with you guys," Yamamoto returned, chuckling.

"Huh? Hey!"

.

The sounds of metal on skin and clothing filled the air as Kusakabe pulled a student back around the corner just as the first year saw Hibari beating up a group of punks from the third year.

"I… I'm so… sorry… but my… my class is… that way…" the boy stuttered, trying to keep a firm grasp on his books.

"Just take the long way for today. Kyou-san's in a very bad mood," the Vice President explained, sighing. "Just in case he suddenly decides you're one of them…"

"Oh! O… okay… thanks!" He ran off.

Kusakabe sighed, shaking his head. It was going to be a long day.

-Future-

"How is he?" Fran whispered.

"Still sleeping," Kyoko muttered back as they moved silently through the tunnel.

"That's good," Fran sighed. "I can't believe they found out where we were."

Only ten minutes earlier, an explosion had rocked the side of the house, and Fran managed to get them into the one escape path inside the building. He had tried contacting the others, but unfortunately, his reception hit zero in the underground path.

"Do you think Xanxus knows about this?" Kyoko asked.

"Well, they'll find out eventually right?"

"How? They're in Italy."

"I have a tracking device on my cell phone. Every Varia member can pinpoint the other's location as long as they have it."

"Ah, I see…"

"So no matter what, don't get separated from me. If something were to happen, then take my cell phone and run for it, okay?"

"But…" Kyoko began.

"You and Hiro-chan are more important." Fran sighed. "At least, that's what I want to say, but Boss would probably kill me anyway if anything happened to you… two." He almost forgot to add the last word.

"Fran…"

"Oh, now is probably a good time to duck…" Fran interrupted as a shot rang out through the tunnel, missing them, followed by an explosion.

.

"Essere inattivo," Gamma mouthed. "Lie dormant?"

"Well, we're done here then, right? Let's go before they find out and decide to change the password," Lambo announced nervously, walking past the two older men.

"Wait, we don't even know if that's the right password or not!" Gamma called after him.

"Don't worry, we can trust him," Lambo said shakily before hurrying off.

"Him?" Gamma wondered out loud, looking at Ryohei for an explanation. However, the other merely shrugged.

"We might as well go. There's nothing more we can do here," he looked at the bodies, frowning.

"Yeah... I wonder who did this..." Gamma pondered as he followed the Sun Guardian out of the room. A buzzing sound suddenly rang through his headset and the instrument blared back into life. "Hello? Anyone there?"

"You're alive!" Irie exclaimed in relief on the other end.

"Yeah, and we've got the password. 'Essere inattivo'," Gamma answered.

"Was it one of the scientists?"

"No, it was on the computer screen when we got there. It's probably someone from another family who also wants to protect his men."

"I see... so what's the status of the base?"

Gamma sighed. "I don't see why you should care about them. If you must know, the scientists and those in the control room are all dead, killed by whoever left the password for us. If you want more information, you should ask Lambo, he seemed to know what was going on."

"Oh, alright. We'll start immediately with the password then. Good job."

"Great, mission accomplished to the extreme!" Ryohei said, beaming.

"By the way, have any of the Varia come? Gokudera was on the phone with them before and it went dead."

"No? Why would they be here?" Lambo joined the conversation, his earpiece apparently fixed as well.

"Ah, no reason. Just wondering. Hurry back; we might need you here."

"Alright," Gamma said. He wanted a nice warm bath when he got back to get rid of the blood and sooth his still slightly aching healed wound.

"Oh, let me drive!" Ryohei offered when he realized Gamma looking at the hole in his clothing, making the other look at him. "I will drive to the extreme to get us back as soon as possible."

"Uh... sure?" Apparently Gamma had never been in a car with the Sun Guardian driving before.

"Please, please don't crash into anything," Lambo said when they caught up to him at the entrance.

.

"That was close," Fran sighed as he helped Kyoko to her feet.

"Are you injured?"

"Nah, I just made it look like we got blown up." He grinned. "My specialty. Although, I wasn't too sure what kind of an effect those bullets would have on Mist Flames. It won't be long before they realize they didn't hit anything."

"Bullets?"

"Ah… there's a new weapon being developed by one of the smaller Families. Right now, the others are…" Fran suddenly froze and barely managed to turn halfway around before dropping to the floor, knocked out by a sleeping dart.

"Sheesh, that was no fun," the shooter said, chuckling as he walked towards them. Kyoko took a nervous step back, holding Hiro, who was still miraculously sleeping closer to her. She doubted mafia men liked crying children a lot.

"You're Vongola Tenth's girl right? We'd like you to come with us."

"Huh?" Kyoko blanked out. 'They're not after Hiro-chan?'

"I'm from the Fuoco Family. The Boss would like to see you in Italy." More men appeared behind him and her, surrounding her. "Will you come with us?" he asked, extending a hand out to her.

She glanced at Fran before turning back to the man. "What will happen to them?"

He shrugged, pointing the gun at Fran. "Well, that depends on…" In one swift movement, Kyoko yanked the dart out of Fran's back and held it to her own throat. "Hey hey, let's not get hasty…" the man urged, sweating.

"You just need me alive right? So, if I die here, your boss won't be too pleased."

The man laughed. "You've got guts fitting for a mafia queen."

'Queen?' Kyoko almost faltered a bit.

"What are your terms for coming with us?"

"You are to take my butler," she nodded to Fran, "and my little brother with me just the way they are."

"That's ridiculous, leaving his weapons with him!" one of the others said but the leader raised a hand to silence him.

"He's your butler?"

"What do you expect?" Kyoko answered. 'Is he buying it?'

"And that's your little brother that you're holding?"

"Yes."

"Alright, fine. But, your butler should know the consequences if he were to struggle when he wakes."

"I'll be sure to tell him." She sighed inwardly. 'Someone… please find us…' Her hands shook ever so slightly, Hiro still sleeping soundly with her, as she followed the man out of the tunnel while another picked up Fran effortlessly and carried him along behind them.

.

"It's in!" Irie said excitedly as he began furiously typing on the keyboard.

"Message from the Varia!" Giannini announced. "It says that they're going to go look for Fran? I thought he was back in Japan with the heir."

"Why are they looking for Fran?" Ryohei asked, entering the room, followed by a sickly looking Lambo.

'Good thing they're still alive… with Ryohei's driving…' Gokudera thought morbidly, knowing that the Sun Guardian was responsible for their current state, not the Fuoco henchmen back at the now empty base.

"Maybe… they found out about the heir…" Gokudera said slowly, biting his lip.

"What?" Ryohei exclaimed. "No! We must go to Japan! Kyoko…"

"Wait, what has Kyoko got to do with this?" Gokudera interrupted him.

"She's taking care of Hiro-chan! We have to get to them!"

"So you knew?" Gokudera's voice came out calmly and dangerously.

"Doesn't everyone?" Ryohei asked, confused as Lambo wondered whether or not he should kick the Sun Guardian to shut up.

"Not me," Gokudera replied.

"Really?"

"Look, you were just so busy after the others returned to their time…" Lambo cut in, pushing Ryohei aside. "We didn't want you to worry about anything more."

Gokudera fell silent for a bit. "Who else knows about him?"

"Just me, Ryohei, Kyoko, Sawada-san, and the Varia. Oh, and probably Irie…" Irie's typing became louder and faster as the scientist tried to use his work as an excuse to be excluded from the conversation.

"And Tsuna's mom?"

"She's…" Lambo bit his lip, not wanting to say another. "Uh…" he looked at Ryohei for help, but as usual, the Sun Guardian didn't get the hint. "Uh… sorry…" he turned around and left.

"Why'd you have to mention her?" Ryohei exclaimed, oblivious to the fact that he might have been able to prevent what just happened.

"You were the ones who didn't tell me. How the hell can I act as Boss if I don't even know that we have another heir?" Gokudera yelled back, glaring at the Sun Guardian. "You know what? Whatever…" He stomped past Ryohei and left.

Spanner sighed. "Love is so jealous."

"Well they still have a good several hours to sort themselves out," Irie said. "Stop talking and help me with this."

"I am confused to the extreme!" Ryohei announced.

"You're the cause of all this!" all three scientists yelled at him.

.

"Hm? Lambo? What are you doing there?" Gamma asked when he saw Lambo in a corner in the lounge. The former had just finally finished his much needed shower and was looking forward to a nap on the sofa, not expecting to find the Thunder Guardian also occupying the room.

"Nothing," Lambo said, not moving.

"Hey…" Gamma put a hand on his shoulder. "Is it something you want to talk about?"

"No."

The other sighed; he really wanted that nap. "Is it about the past?" Lambo didn't answer. "You know, if you sulk like this, they won't be happy."

"I know…"

"So get up and sharpen your horns. We'll probably have to leave in a few hours again. The Vongola Tenth wouldn't want his death keeping you from preventing another mafia war, right?"

Lambo sighed, peeking from his arms, eyes a little red. "Thanks…" He slowly got to his feet, straightening his ruffled clothes. "I'll show him."

Gamma chuckled. "Yeah, let's beat the crap out of Fuoco, for both our Famiglias."

.

Yamamoto walked through the hallway to his room, carrying a pile of finished laundry when he passed the Storm Guardian out on one of the balconies. Making up his mind, the Rain Guardian deposited his clothes in his room and headed for the balcony.

"How was the mission?" Yamamoto asked cheerfully as he approached his friend.

"How's your love life?" Gokudera irritably returned.

"Uh… okay I guess… progressing?" Yamamoto answered, reflecting over the events of the past few days. He had finally woken up earlier and found that the Cloud Guardian had already returned to his own base; Kusakabe was thoughtful enough to have left a message saying to contact them as soon as they got the coordinates for their next mission.

"Good for you," the other answered sarcastically.

"Whoa, hey," Yamamoto said, chuckling. "There's nothing to be jealous about. We haven't even kissed yet."

"Why the hell would we be kissing?" Gokudera exploded, whirling around and realizing halfway that the other meant Hibari. "Argh… sorry."

"No problem," Yamamoto replied good-naturedly, leaning on the railing next to Gokudera. "Something happen with the mission that you're not happy about?"

"Tsuna has a brother…"

"Really? I remember Ryohei saying something about his sister babysitting someone once…"

"And I didn't know."

"Ah!" Yamamoto could understand that. Kind of. "You were so busy the past few months. Maybe they didn't want to put any more pressure on you."

"That's what Lambo said. Did you guys rehearse or something?" he asked bitterly.

Yamamoto chuckled. "No. I just found when you told me now."

"But you two…"

"Have you looked in the mirror the past few months? You look horrible."

"Just to tell you, I'm still fully armed…" Gokudera threatened.

"I'm serious!" Yamamoto said, holding his hands up in defeat. "If I knew Tsuna had a brother, and he was already taken care of, I wouldn't bother you about him until later."

"When would later be?"

"Uh… I don't know… probably not now?"

Gokudera sighed. "I think they've taken him."

"Huh?"

"The Varia sent us a message earlier that they were looking for them."

"Them?"

Gokudera explained the situation to Yamamoto, careful to leave out the parts where Lussuria had unwittingly forgotten that Hiro was Tsuna's brother, not his cousin or, worse in Gokudera's point of view, son.

"Oh… sounds like we'll have a bit of work on our hands then," Yamamoto said when his friend finally finished. "No Varia to help with the raid…"

"Wait… you're not going," Gokudera said, realizing what Yamamoto was getting at.

"Why not? I'm mostly healed," he grinned, flexing an arm, "and you're short of men. Why can't I go?"

"Sheesh…" Gokudera sighed. "Only if there's more than one location."

Yamamoto laughed.

.

"He said 'Hiro's in trouble'," Lussuria muttered to Squalo. "You owe me a drink."

"No I don't!" Squalo yelled at him, prompting the others to look at him. "Uh… I mean… We found the signal!" he announced.

"Is the little frog dead?" Bel asked, snickering out of habit at the thought of death and blood.

"No, he's in… Italy?" Squalo blinked. "What the hell are they doing in Italy?"

"Oh, it's not that far away either. Maybe another Family's mansion?" Lussuria offered.

"Why the hell would he be there?" Squalo returned.

"Let's go," Xanxus broke up their talking, getting up and leaving the room. The others promptly followed as they gathered their weapons and papers.

Meanwhile, Squalo took the change to continue his argument with Lussuria. "Look, I've known him for a hell of a lot longer than you do, and there's no way he'd help the Vongola brat. I'd say that he's in lo…"

"Hey what are you two talking about?" Bel asked, jumping in.

"Nothing!" Squalo yelled at the "prince."

* * *

Yo! Sorry I'm a week late T.T! I had a final at school, and there was some stuff going on at home… ^.^ But I'll write another chapter for this weekend maybe around… Sunday? Or Monday if I get too busy.

Ack, I'm sorry again! Thank you for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

-Future-

"Okay, so let's get down to it," Irie began, adjusting his glasses. "There are currently two locations for the bullet manufacturing plants, both located in Italy."

'Two… what the hell…' Gokudera thought irritably, glancing at Yamamoto who had quite the opposite expression on his face.

"According to their emails, they plan to expand the operation further into Europe within the next two weeks, so if we want to stop them, we'll have to disable the plants as soon as possible."

"Have they started negotiations with other Families yet?" Gamma asked.

"No, they've been pretty quiet about the bullets. They've only acted against Vongola and Giglio Nero."

"The attack on your base was a test," Spanner explained. "They must have thought Giglio Nero was a convenient target since it's still recovering from its split with Gesso. You sure showed them though."

"Those bastards…" Gamma muttered under his breath.

"We've also located their main headquarters, also in Italy, so we have three targets."

"Three? But we only have five people…" Gokudera began.

"Six," Kusakabe corrected.

"No problem! I'll be the team of one!" Ryohei declared energetically, obviously misunderstanding Kusakabe.

"Should Hibari be moving around too much?" the Storm Guardian asked with an eyebrow raised in doubt, ignoring Ryohei.

"Kyou-san has requested for no more than a two person team on one of the factories," Kusakabe answered, shrugging.

"Two?" Irie asked, frowning.

"Did he really say that?" Gokudera asked.

Kusakabe chuckled. "Well he said something like 'no crowds', so I'm assuming the maximum of two people in his place."

"That still leaves us with only three teams of two…" Giannini commented. "If only we had the Varia…"

"Email," Spanner interrupted when the computer gave a small beep.

"From Giglio Nero?" Irie asked him.

"No, from the Varia. They said they're headed for this address… oh!"

"What is it?" Gokudera inquired.

"The Varia's going for the main base." Spanner chuckled. "Well that simplifies things a lot."

"So one team of two and one team of four?" Yamamoto asked.

"Wait wait! There's no way we can have one team of two on the plants! The guards there must be completely armed with the bullets!" Irie told him, obviously starting to get nervous.

"But Hibari said he didn't want to crowd…"

"If we don't want the mission to fail, then we can't…"

"Why don't we organize the groups according to Flames?" Spanner interrupted again.

"Wait! That's a good idea!" Irie approved of it immediately. "But we still can't have a group of two," he added when he saw Yamamoto's face light up.

"Let's see what they'll come up with first," Gokudera muttered to the Rain Guardian before Yamamoto could argue again.

"But…" Yamamoto began uneasily.

"Look, I know you want to be in his group, so let's just lay down the facts first and see what we have."

"You're right… sorry…" he sighed.

Spanner typed on his keyboard and brought up a diagram with the six fighters on it. "Okay, so we have two Thunder users, one Rain, one Cloud, one Sun, and one Storm. By default, Yamamoto's Flame should be able to slow down the effects of the bullets no matter who gets hit. Ryohei is the only healer, so he can also be on either group."

"What would happen if Storm Flames were used on Thunder?" Gokudera interrupted.

"Thunder? Theoretically, it'll probably make it worse. However, if you were to use Storm Flames on Mist or Cloud…"

"There's no way in hell I'm going with Hibari," Gokudera told him bluntly.

"And I doubt that he'll get along with Lambo or Gamma…" Giannini sighed.

"We're all here you know," Gamma commented sarcastically.

"Then we'll just have to put Yamamoto with Hibari," Irie concluded.

"Really?" the Rain Guardian said just a little too excitedly.

"Unless you don't…"

"No, I'm fine with it!" Yamamoto told him, grinning.

"Then we'll have Ryohei on standby between the two bases just in case anyone does get hurt," Gokudera told them. "Would that work?"

"You guys will have to be very careful though," Irie told him.

"Wait, so I'm not going to do anything?" Ryohei asked, frowning.

"You're on standby," Gokudera told him.

"Okay! I will wait to the extreme!" Ryohei declared after a moment's hesitation.

.

"Hey Gokudera!" Yamamoto called as he ran up to the Storm Guardian in the hallway.

"What is it?"

"Thanks," he grinned. "For earlier…"

Gokudera sighed. "You guys better not get yourselves killed."

"What makes you say that?" Yamamoto asked innocently as they continued to walk down the hallway. The moonlight lit the way through the many windows that lined the passage.

"The operation is in two days, and both of you are still recovering."

"I'm fine," Yamamoto insisted.

"You fainted just yesterday," Gokudera told him, glaring.

"Ah, but I feel great now! All healed! Ryohei gave me some more of his Sun Flames."

"What were you doing in the training room anyway?" Gokudera asked suspiciously.

"Ah… I was…" Yamamoto's smile dropped a little. "Testing out my rings."

"Testing?"

He chuckled. "I seem to have to same problem as Hibari right now. Every time I use a ring, it kind of… breaks…"

Gokudera groaned. "Now you tell me! What are you two going to do if you use up all your rings in the operation?"

"Borrow some of theirs… ow!" Gokudera hit him on the head.

"You're bringing a gun and some extra knives."

.

"So we're not allowed to leave this room?" Fran asked calmly as Kyoko fed Hiro some powdered milk the servants had provided earlier.

"That's what they said…" Kyoko told him.

"Hm… I don't think I see any hidden cameras…" The Mist Flame user commented as he examined the room and then attempted to peak through the keyhole. "Oh, there are quite a lot of people outside."

"Can we escape?"

"I wouldn't try that just yet… They're probably all armed with the bullets."

"I see…"

"Don't worry, Boss will come soon."

"Xanxus?"

"They've probably already tracked our location by now. It'll be soon. What I don't understand is why they brought us here of all places. It's a risky move for them."

"Is this their headquarters?"

"Yes." Kyoko looked at Hiro, biting her lip. She finally muttered a little embarrassedly, "The man who shot you earlier… he called me a 'mafia queen'…"

"Huh?"

"But I was never with Tsuna in the first place…" Kyoko explained, unable to contain a faint blush across her face.

"Well there's another way you could've taken that," Fran told her.

"What do you… oh!" The blush deepened. "No! I refuse!" she exclaimed.

Fran shrugged. "Assuming that they thought you were Tsuna's girl, a wedding with their boss would presumably deal a huge blow to Vongola."

"That's…"

"Your reaction was pretty strong. Did you like Tsuna? Or is it someone else?"

"Fran, you're a little too blunt," Kyoko said, sighing.

He shrugged again. "Senpai sometimes tells me that too. So who do you like?"

"I'd appreciate if you dropped that question," Kyoko said, smiling.

"Aw come on. I'm bored. Give some hints at least. Is he in the mafia?"

"Yes…"

'Well that doesn't really narrow it… hm…' Fran tried again. "Is he in the Varia?"

"Yes…" The blush returned, deeper.

"If it's Lussuria, then you don't have a chance. I don't think he's into girls."

"Fran! Isn't it obvious?" Kyoko exclaimed.

"Me? Ha ha, just kidding. Let's see… Bel-senpai's too violent. Squalo doesn't seem to be your type a guy… I doubt it's Levi… so that leaves… oh… How'd that happen?"

"I don't know…"

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. "The Boss would like to see you, Lady Kyoko," the shooter from before said, bowing as he entered. "Your butler can remain here with your brother."

Kyoko looked at Fran, who nodded. "Don't worry about us." She frowned, now willing to move.

"Madame?" The man gestured out the door.

'Xanxus… please hurry…' Kyoko thought as she left, looking back at Fran and Hiro before the door shut again.

.

"So you are the famous Kyoko Sawada of Vongola," a middle aged man with gray streaked hair that Kyoko presumed was the boss greeted them when she entered room, accompanied by the shooter. "Beautiful, just as they've told me…"

"Your words flatter me too much," Kyoko told him, keeping an expressionless demeanor. 'I can't show him any fear…'

"No, no… if I may dare say, I think I have not flattered you enough." He stood up from his place at the sofa, walking towards her. Kyoko briefly observed her surroundings for a possible escape route but found none; no less than a dozen others were in the room, all obvious equipped with guns hanging at their waists.

'Fran said something about bullets earlier… are they all carrying the weapon?'

The man brushed some of her long hair to the side, examining her face. It took Kyoko a lot of effort not to flinch at the gesture, harmless at it currently was. "Do you know why I've brought you here?"

"No, I don't," she lied.

"I have a proposition for you." He dropped his hand and continued walking around the room, mostly in a slow circle around her like a wolf encircling its prey. "A war is brewing among the mafia… one that will bring down the old thin walls of tradition and rebuild them in steel. I alone… can spare your precious Vongola from that fate. All you have to do…" He was in front of her again and this time moved her chin up a little so that they met each other's eyes. "All you have to do is accept my proposal. That will forge a bond between Vongola and Fuoco, and you will be safe."

"Why me… Mr…?" Kyoko asked him.

"Arturo," he told her. "Why you indeed… you are beautiful and courageous, as I have heard from Leone here. Also…" He leaned closer to her ear behind her; now she shivered nervously at his breath on her the skin of neck not covered by her hair. "Because… you are the Tenth's…" he whispered, smirking, before drawing away. "But unlike him, I do not plan on dying and leaving my beloved behind…"

"He died protecting Vongola. Would you do the same for the ones you love?" Kyoko asked him through gritted teeth.

"I don't need to," he answered confidently. "They will die for me."

As if coincidence backed up his statement, the doors burst open at that moment, revealing one of the underlings, a hand raised up as if he wanted to say something.

"Yes?" Arturo asked impatiently at the intrusion. A thin trickle of blood from the man's mouth answered him and the man fell into a heap on the floor, his body suddenly bleeding from numerous wounds. Kyoko screamed and jumped away from the body just as Xanxus stormed into the room.

Arturo nodded to his right hand man, and Leone immediately grabbed Kyoko and held a gun next to her skull, earning a glare from a pair of dangerous red eyes.

"Ah, Xanxus of the Varia. I have been wanting meet you for quite some time now," Arturo said, smirking.

"Hey Boss! Bel's still killing everyone! Should I stop him?" Lussuria asked as he also entered the room, witnessing the scene: body on the ground, arrogant old man who looked like he was probably the boss, several men scattered here and there with guns out, and another with a gun pointed at Kyoko. "Oh dear! You guys are so dead!" he said, sighing as he shook his head.

"I believe you are not in a position to predict that," Arturo told him.

"Really now?" Lussuria asked gaily, looking at Xanxus.

* * *

^.^" Uh… sorry about the random pairing! (But I thought it was kind of funny hehe) Oh, about Xanxus, I remember reading the future arc and then he showed up. I was like, "Ah! He looks a little like Hibari!" Anyone else think so? ^.^?

T.T Also sorry about the length of this chapter; I can't think of anything to write for the Present Arc right now. Not in mood… So depressed sigh… I'll beef up the next few chapters later to repent for this one… (Probably with more stuff for the Future Arc though haha) Oh and Hibari is coming back soon! T.T I know there hasn't been much 8018 these 2 chapters…

Anyways, thanks for reading! There should be random updates this week and next since I'm on break.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

-Future-

Ryohei sighed as he looked up into the blanket of stars in the night sky and announced to the world, "I am bored to the extreme!"

As per Irie's instructions, he had positioned himself at the halfway point between the two targeted locations half an hour before the start of the operation. Unfortunately, waiting was not the ideal pastime for someone like the Sun Guardian. He sighed again, and tapped his foot impatiently on the slightly sandy pavement before preoccupying himself with crushing a nearby weed growing through the cracks in the cement with the tip of his leather shoes.

"Kyoko better be alright!" He had insisted that they let him go to the main mansion instead earlier, but Irie had assured him that the Varia was more than able to handle that location alone. Ryohei stopped leaning against his car and stretched, yawning, deciding to get back into the vehicle.

"I extremely miss Hana…" he lamented. He leaned on the steering wheel, swinging his keys in a circle repeatedly. "Maybe I should visit when this is over!" He sat up, immediately liking the idea. "Yeah! When we finish, everyone will go back to Japan and drink to the extreme!"

"Is drinking all you think of?" Gokudera's voice suddenly said as the earpiece blasted to life.

"No! I was also thinking of Hana!" Ryohei retorted at maximum volume.

"His girlfriend…" he heard the other's voice, slightly muffled.

"Oh… not flowers… I was getting worried," Ryohei heard Irie in the background.

"Okay," Gokudera seemed to have returned. "So we're going to start moving to the locations now. I want you to reposition to the front of Hibari and Yamamoto's target in half an hour, and make sure they don't see you."

"Huh?" He didn't see this coming.

"Irie and the others will be monitoring everyone's life signals. If anything happens to them, then you'll have to rush in. There's no way you can reach either group in time if you're at the halfway point," Gokudera explained irritably.

"Wait, what about you?"

"We'll be fine." He heard some more muffled talking as Gokudera exchanged a few words with the three scientists before returning. "Okay, so we're moving out now. Make sure they don't see you, especially Hibari."

"Got it." The earpiece clicked. "Yes!" Ryohei exclaimed happily as he turned on the car.

.

The start of the operation went by smoothly enough; dodging bullets from a few inexperienced guards proved still fairly easy for the two previously injured hitmen. It wasn't until the grunts of the Fuoco Family had finally managed to sound the alarm that the "fun" really began.

Yamamoto whipped out one of his defensive forms, a wall of water, just in time to stop an onset of a dozen bullets from the one man before his first Rain Ring finally shattered from the stress. Frowning, the swordsman concentrated his Flames on the other two rings on his second fourth fingers and summoned Jirou and Kojirou.

The Rain Guardian watched in wonder as the two rings also shattered, almost forgetting the battle. Fortunately, the Box Weapon animals both jumped into the onset of bullets, knocking out some of the shooters. Jirou nudged Yamamoto to the side, snapping him out of his distraction and the Rain Guardian rejoined his two new partners, this time with an offensive form.

"Hey Hibari! How in the world do you manage not use up all your Rings in one battle?" Yamamoto asked the whirl of black and purple a nice distance away. As he predicted, Hibari didn't bother answering and instead swung a tonfa at full speed at a man's face; Yamamoto could hear the snap of the neck amidst the chaotic wave of sound. Chuckling, he swung his own katana, blunt end first of course, and knocked yet another enemy down.

'There are quite a lot of them here, and Gokudera said we took the smaller base…' The man fell at his feet, unconscious, and another came to take his place. 'It's like there's an infinite amount of them…' It almost felt a routine: swing, duck, move forward… He saw someone struggling to the top of one of the scattered crates before aiming. 'Hibari knows he's there… right?'

Yamamoto swore that the bullet had just grazed his partner's arm, but in that millisecond of cohesion, the Cloud Flames on Hibari's right tonfa extinguished, and he fell to one knee in surprise at the sudden weakness. Luckily, the closest place of impact was a wall twenty feet behind him, and the bullet exploded there, sending concrete flying into the air.

The men in the building took a deep breath; finally one of their shots had "hit" one of the targets. They prepared to go on the offense, but Yamamoto was quicker than them.

"Hibari!" the Rain Guardian yelled as he quickly swung, throwing a massive wave of water at the gunman to temporarily obscure his view. In a flash, he had managed to "gracefully" throw Hibari over his shoulder and run behind a set of boxes.

Hibari, on the other hand, gave the swordsman a swift whack to the back with one of his tonfa as soon as they reached safety, making Yamamoto drop him. "What are you doing?" he hissed, a frustrated blush building across his face.

"Saving you?" Yamamoto answered confused. Hibari held a tonfa to his throat, pressing him backwards against the storage box.

"Never," he emphasized each word with the poison of a cobra, "do that again."

"Eh, why..."

"I don't need your help."

"Ah..." Yamamoto chuckled. "Sorry about that. Instinct, you know?"

Hibari grunted as he reignited the Cloud Flames on his right tonfa, testing his hand. The bullet had taken a huge portion of his Cloud Flames, he admitted, but that didn't mean he didn't have enough left for the job.

"Shoot, those bullets absorb really well..." Yamamoto chuckled, sensing the lack of Flames on the other.

"Don't get hit," Hibari muttered.

Yamamoto laughed. "Hey, I'm not the one who got hit."

Hibari contemplated giving the other a blow to the stomach but decided against it since he'd rather not have the Storm Guardian complain his ass off later for Yamamoto's death. "Stay here," he hissed. "I don't need your help."

"Hibari... we're all assigned to this mission. If I just sit here, then Gokudera's going to dock my pay."

Hibari almost snorted. "Whatever. Don't get killed."

"Aw, is that a sign of concern?" Yamamoto said hopefully.

"I'll be the one to bite you to death later, after this," the Cloud Guardian returned.

"Ah, okay." Yamamoto watched as Hibari jumped back into the fray before going in himself, Jirou and Kojirou still assisting them on the other side of the room to prevent any attacks from the back. 'That was just one hit…' He remembered the body under the sheet. 'What if… No, can't think of that now!' He gripped his sword tighter. It took nearly all he had left to not flip the blade over.

.

"Even if you kill everyone here, you can't stop what has begun," Arturo told them smugly. "Already, my men are negotiating with one other Family; the blueprints are with them."

"Where might that be, my good man?" Lussuria asked.

Arturo sighed theatrically. "Well… I might as well tell you. It's not like you'll live long enough to report back to your little Vongola friends. It'll just make your deaths all the more pathetic, getting so close to the goal only to have it slip from your fingertips."

"We are Vongola," Xanxus said, emphasizing the second word; Lussuria could almost feel the Sky Flames leaking into the room from his boss, but all was hidden and suppressed.

Arturo laughed. "How can you be Vongola when you fight against it? Come to think about it, now that your dear boss is dead, Vongola doesn't even exist anymore as soon as I kill the remaining Guardians he chose." He shrugged, walking over to his table and pouring himself a glass of wine, taking a long sip. "But enough of that. You want the location? Thirteen miles directly East of here at the port. Beautiful place really; I would buy it when I get the chance."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mansion, Squalo spoke into his earpiece just as he sliced a set of double doors open, readying a wave of Flames before spotting Fran. "Did you hear that?" Squalo asked.

"Yeah, I got it," the speaker on the other line answered him. "Don't worry; we'll take care of it." The earpiece clicked.

"Ah, thanks for rescuing me, Senpai," Fran greeted Squalo, who almost threw a wall of water at him anyway.

"What the hell? You are so dead."

"I couldn't help it. They used a sleeping dart."

"And you didn't see it? You're Varia!" Squalo couldn't believe that Fran had gotten himself and the other two captured in such a short amount of time.

"Yeah yeah, I'm sorry," Fran said hastily, waving his hand impatiently. "I'll make it up to you. Where are they?"

.

"Don't move," Arturo warned when he saw Xanxus's hand twitch slightly. Kyoko gasped as Leone pressed the gun into her scalp. "Kids these days should learn some manners," he sighed before smirking. "I wonder what I should do with you. Shoot a bullet into your bodies and let your precious little princess here watch as you die by your own Flames? Or should I lock you all up somewhere and make you watch as your so called Vongola allies die in their attempts to take my bases? Hm?"

"They're not weak," Xanxus said.

"Oh of course not; I am well aware of that. You are not weak yourself, but even with all your 'talents' with the Flames, you are still so vulnerable to my creation." He took out a gun, caressing it gently before pointing it casually towards Xanxus's heart.

"No! Stop!" Kyoko cried out before Leone hit her on the head with the side of his gun.

"Shut up already. Women are so noisy sometimes," Arturo said, shaking his head.

Lussuria prayed that the room wouldn't explode prematurely from Xanxus's Flames. 'If looks could kill… I'd be dead even now though he's not looking at me,' the Sun Flame user thought excitedly.

"Even without a talent for Flames, I can still destroy you with one bullet," Arturo continued as Kyoko started to struggle against Leone's grip despite the gun still pointed at her head. "Oh Leone, try not to hurt her," he commented before smirking and returning his attention to Xanxus. "To think you all wasted so much time training when all you needed was a little technology…"

"Xanxus!" Kyoko yelled again as Arturo's finger tightened on the trigger.

Suddenly, all the guns in the room, including Arturo's and Leone's, exploded into hissing snakes, making their owners drop them in fright.

"Oh dear, they don't seem to be too good with illusions. Maybe we could've escaped earlier," Fran sighed, walking into the room.

"Let her go," Xanxus ordered Leone, who still kept a firm grip on Kyoko.

He stepped back just a little when the air around the leader of the Varia turned an angry orange, the Sky Flames licking at the room. Xanxus calmly took out a strange little box, stepping completely into the room from the door frame. In one swift movement, the Flames concentrated on his ring, and he forced the fire in.

After an angry burst of Flames, the liger stood before the head of the Fuoco Family, proud and growling.

"Time's up!" Lussuria told them, grinning.

The room exploded in a torrent of orange Sky Flames, and the last thing Kyoko remembered was a pair of red eyes and strong arms catching her when Leone let go, hands over his burning face.

.

Yamamoto recalled that Hibari had specifically told him not to carry him again, so he did the next best thing when the second shot came inevitably flying towards his precious Cloud Guardian.

"Hibari, behind you!"

The skylark turned just in time to see Yamamoto jump in front of him. He saw the glint of metal from a gun in Yamamoto's pocket as the latter fell, and in an instant, it was in his hands; he fired and caught the Rain Guardian at the same time. The shooter fell to the floor with a bullet between the eyes, and the others found themselves face to face with a huge sphere of growing spikes; Hibari had encased himself and Yamamoto inside one of the hedgehogs.

"Ah! Pull back!" one of them yelled as the sphere continued growing. A few didn't make it out as the hedgehog finally filled up the entire room and stopped its onslaught. The screams were distant to the two inside.

"Yamamoto Takeshi?" Hibari muttered as he saw the location of the bullet entrance and the pool of blood beginning to form on Yamamoto's back. Jirou and Kojirou went over to them worriedly before suddenly disappearing back into their Boxes, unable to stay out any longer. "Yamamoto?" he repeated as he turned the Rain Guardian around to see his face, which was contorted in pain. His breaths were uneven and strained, and he held one hand over his wound in vain to stifle the flow of blood.

"Ryohei, get in there now!" he heard Irie's voice in his earpiece; the scientist was in too much of a panic to remember which switch led to Ryohei's transmitter and turned all of them on.

"What's going on?" Gokudera asked.

"Where are they?" the Sun Guardian asked, obviously also panicking.

"I'll tell you where to go…"

Hibari ripped off his headset and flung it aside. "Yamamoto Takeshi, don't you dare die on me," he told him.

Yamamoto coughed, freeing a collection of blood from his throat onto the floor, his clothes, and Hibari. He managed a chuckle despite the situation. "I… don't really mind… You're safe, right? If you want, you can land the finishing blow like you said earlier…"

Hibari almost knocked him on the head but barely managed to restrain himself, instead hugging the other's head closer. "You idiot. Why did you…"

"You said not to carry you again…" He closed his eyes. "Wah… I'm getting sleepy… Let's talk later over some sake… I haven't visited my old man's grave in a while…"

Hibari muttered, "Okay…" without even realizing what he was agreeing to, his face hidden from the other. He felt his hands shaking. 'This was… my fault?'

Yamamoto grinned calmly. "Now I can't die." Despite those words, Hibari could feel the warmth of the other's Flames continue to ebb away without mercy.

"Yamamoto!" Ryohei had arrived. The Hedgehog barrier shattered, allowing the Sun Guardian to run towards the two as Hibari slowly laid the Rain Guardian on the floor and stood up.

"If he dies, I'll bite all of you to death," he said, looking away so that Ryohei couldn't see what kind of expression he had on his face. Hibari then left, his Cloud Flames flaring up around him, licking his surroundings angrily.

* * *

Sigh… Sorry about the late updates recently. A close family member of mine's been in and out of the emergency room and hospital, and it's been kind of hard to write. (Insert determined face here.) But I will finish this story! (Eventually hehe, still a ways to go…)

By the way, I was reading the reviews for the last chapter and thought, "Ah! I forgot to mention Fong! Noooooooo!" Omg yes! The first time I saw that dude, I was wondering if they didn't accidentally switch Hibari in haha! But he has a cute ponytail… (Or whatever it's called; I have trouble with hair style names.)

I'll resume the present arc in the next chapter; I actually have part of it written for this, but if I finish it, it'll be another few days before I post this chapter, so that'll probably not work… ah! I'm so sorry T.T.

Anyways, thanks for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

-Present-

"Hey Yamamoto, isn't Hibari-san acting a little… strange lately?" Tsuna asked on their way to lunch.

"Ah… I don't know…" Yamamoto replied, faking a grin.

"Dude, he's beaten up at least one out of every five people by now, and it's only been two days!" Gokudera added. "Not to mention it's for the stupidest reasons."

"He seems normal to me," Yamamoto replied, shrugging.

Tsuna sudden stopped and looked behind him, prompting the other two to also stop.

"What's wrong?" his Storm Guardian asked him.

"I just felt…" Before he managed to finish the sentence, Gokudera and Yamamoto both figured out what their boss's hyper intuition had picked up. At the end of the corridor, the prefect in question was stomping towards them; Tsuna could almost see the murderous aura surrounding his untamable Cloud Guardian.

"Good afternoon, Hibari-san!" Tsuna said, trying to loosen the atmosphere. 'We're dead.'

However, the skylark only swooped down on one of them, grabbing Yamamoto by the back of the collar as he passed and dragging him away.

"Ah, Yamamoto!" Tsuna exclaimed after him.

"Let them be," Gokudera sighed.

"But…" Tsuna stuttered as he nervously watched the last of his Rain Guardian disappear around the corner, most likely headed for the roof top. 'I hope Hibari-san's not going to drag him over the stairs like that…' They heard thumping.

.

"Eh… Hibari?" Yamamoto rubbed his aching back and tried not to think about what other damage he sustained from the trip from the second floor to the roof.

"What's wrong with me?" Hibari asked him, grabbing him by the front of the collar with both hands. Yamamoto could feel the other shaking with fury, or so he assumed. The Cloud Guardian slammed his head into the other's chest, refusing to look up, which was perfectly fine for Yamamoto, who couldn't keep a blush from creeping across his face.

"Do I just have to kill you? Is that why?"

"Hibari…" Yamamoto moved to put an arm around the skylark but wisely thought otherwise and dropped it.

"I can't get your stupid grin out of my head."

Yamamoto chuckled, enjoying the soft scent from the bird's hair. "Is that a yes?"

"I'll bite you to death," the other threatened.

"Then let go of me, and I'll stop saying such things…"

Hibari sighed and let the other go only to brandish his tonfa. "One more time," he said, now obviously calmer than before.

"Huh?"

"If you beat me, I'll reconsider." Yamamoto almost frowned; the usual almost bloodthirsty glint was missing in the other's eyes. All he saw was… he saw nothing.

It took all the energy he had to force the grin. "Alright, but I have to get my sword."

-Future-

"Hurry! Put some Sun Flames into him. It'll slow the effects of the Rain Flames so you can remove the bullet!" Irie told Ryohei, who moved Yamamoto's hand away from the bullet wound on his chest and began urging his own flames in.

"Hibari?" Ryohei heard from the ailing Rain Guardian.

"Stay awake, Yamamoto!" Ryohei told him.

"Oh… hey Dad… what are you doing here?" he chuckled, coughing out more blood.

'He's getting delusional…' Ryohei searched for the bullet in vain as blood continued to gush out of the wound through his Sun Flame dipped fingers.

"What are you doing?" Irie yelled.

"I… I can't find it! There's too much blood!" Ryohei was panicking now. He tried to gently push his finger into the bullet hole but a wave of non-tissue suddenly stopped his hand from going any further. 'I can't contain his Flames!' he realized in horror.

"Ryohei, hurry! His vitals are starting to slow!" Irie frantically yelled.

"I know! I know!"

"Hibari…" Ryohei heard another whisper, barely audible.

"Where's the bullet?" Ryohei exploded. "I can't find it!" He tried to track the piece of metal with his Sun Flames but found nothing. 'Hibari's good at this sort of thing! Why can't I find it?'

"Flame readings are dropping! At this rate, he'll…" Spanner gasped.

"Yamamoto! Don't you die, you Baseball Idiot!" Gokudera joined in on his end.

"Ryohei, what are you doing? Put your Sun Flames into him!" Irie yelled.

"I am!"

Yamamoto felt cold metal on his finger. His brain was haze, and his vision, fog. He was certain he had seen his father earlier, but only Ryohei and the other's voices were calling to him. Then, suddenly, another voice called out, almost softly. "Yamamoto Takeshi."

He laughed in his head. 'I'm definitely dreaming now.' He blinked, but it didn't do anything for his vision. 'You know… I don't want to die yet… If I do, then I won't be able to see him anymore…' He could feel his Flames gathering on the spare ring he had put on his left hand. 'Hibari…'

The air around Yamamoto suddenly burst into brilliant blue Flames and threw Ryohei away from the Rain Guardian. "Wah! What's going on?" Ryohei gasped.

"His Flames…. They just suddenly shot up!" Irie gasped.

"Readings are going off the chart!" Giannini added in shock.

"Yamamoto!" Ryohei tried to move closer but the surge of Rain Flames repelled him. Then, just as sudden as before, the fire subsided, sucked back into Yamamoto at the site of the bullet wound and the sound of shattering echoed just slightly through the room. The Sun Guardian froze, fearing the worse.

"Yamamoto?" He ran to the Rain Guardian and prodded the wound with his Flames but still found no bullet. "Yamamoto!" Then, a breath, soft and strained, graced his ears.

"Heal him!" Irie yelled after a moment of awe-struck silence at the readings on his computer.

"But the bullet?"

"Just do it!"

Ryohei immediately began sending his Sun Flames into the Rain Guardian and watched as the wound slowly closed, the Rain Guardian lying still as rock with just the faintest hints of breathing, a soft smile on his lips.

.

Hibari slammed his tonfa into the stomach of the nearest enemy, pressing a button just as the metal made contact and impaling the man with a line of spikes. He wrenched the weapon out and kicked the dying man aside, moving towards the others like a tiger towards its prey. Behind him, several gunmen began firing, only to suddenly get thrown off the rails and into the tanks of liquid metal below by an expanding hedgehog, dying from the spikes even before their bodies felt the heat of the metal below.

A few shots rang out, followed by the sound of metal on metal as Hibari blocked the bullets with flameless tonfas before reigniting his Cloud Flames and granting death to the next person in his way as he continued through the laboratory towards the designated control room.

The next shot knocked his right tonfa away, and the skylark instead punched the shooter in the stomach, propelling the other's gun into the air. Before the other men could react, the gun was in possession of the Cloud Guardian and the sound of bullets rang through the room as Hibari emptied the cartridge on the ones around him.

He threw the useless gun aside and retrieved his tonfa, taking a glance at the nearest man writhing on the floor, Cloud Flames pouring out of the gunshot wound. 'Is this what happens?' he thought as he watched the dying man. He snorted, wiping sweat away from his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. "Yamamoto Takeshi…" The burning in his chest returned, and everything came back to him: the blood, the Rain Guardian in his arms.

He wiped his eyes again when his vision blurred over. 'Sweat…'

The Cloud Guardian gritted his teeth, hands clenching his weapons until they started to hurt. "I'll… kill you all…" he snarled under his breath as a new wave of men ran in just as the bullets did their work on the several men hit from before, and the room was washed in a rain of blood.

.

"It's… it's healed!" Ryohei announced shakily, his legs too weak to stand.

"Amazing…" Irie muttered.

"I guess even a material like that has its limits," Spanner said.

"What happened? Is he going to be alright?" Ryohei asked, worriedly looking at the unmoving Rain Guardian.

"He's lost a lot of blood, and his heart rate's very low. Hurry back; we'll have Shamal attend to him," Spanner told him calmly.

"Even his Flame reading is zero…" Irie wondered as Ryohei managed to get to his feet and heave the Rain Guardian onto his back.

'Don't die Yamamoto… it's not your time yet…' the Sun Guardian muttered before moving towards the exit.

.

Hibari made his way slowly towards the exit, dragging his feet as he passed from room to room, each holding its own assortment of bodies and stray bullets. He entered one of the earlier ones only to find it empty of the two Guardians he left there save an ominous pool of red in the middle.

He stared at it silently before continuing; there was still a mission to complete. His headset lay abandoned on the floor from earlier, and he picked it up, putting it back onto his ear.

Finally, the fresh night air greeted him when he passed the last door into the outside. He took out the trigger once he was a fairly safe distance away, looking disdainfully at the silent building before pressing the red button.

"It's done," he spoke into the headset as the structure behind him exploded into flames.

"Really? Did you…" Hibari took off the headset and pocketed it, replacing it with a cellphone. "Pick me up," he said curtly before also abandoning the phone back into his pocket.

He looked into the night sky, biting his lip absentmindedly as he waited for Kusakabe to come.

.

Kyoko finally woke up and sat up slowly to avoid any sudden dizziness. She shook her head before observing her surroundings, the familiar furniture bringing a smile back into her face.

"Kyoko!" Ryohei yelled as he came crashing into the room. "You're safe!" he said, relieved, as he gave his sister a hug. "Are you hurt anywhere? I'll…"

"I'm fine," she reassured him. "Where's Xan… Where are the others?"

"The Varia are… somewhere in the building, resting I guess…" Ryohei told her, frowning.

"And we've just got back," Gokudera added, entering the room.

"Gokudera!" She ran over to him. "What happened?"

"Mission," he shrugged off the fact that he was a little dirty here and there with a few scratches. "Yamamoto's had it worse."

Kyoko frowned. "Did he get hit?"

"So you know that much?" Gokudera sighed before snapping at Ryohei. "Hey! I haven't seen her for several months; I'm not the one who told her, Lawn Head! Stop glaring at me!"

"Yamamoto?" Kyoko asked again.

"He's alive, but he barely made it."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. Maybe you should ask him? He refuses to sleep until Hibari's returned."

She nodded. "Okay, I will."

"Infirmary. You know where it is, right?"

"Yeah, I've been here once." Kyoko stopped at the door. "Oh… where's Hiro and the others?"

"Top floor. Fran's taking care of Hiro."

She smiled. "Thanks!"

Ryohei tapped Gokudera on the shoulder as soon as Kyoko left.

"What?"

"Earlier… she said Xan… what's that?"

"Xan? You mean Xanxus?" Gokudera asked, confused.

"But… but… she was blushing a little and… Oh…" For once in his life he came to an appropriate conclusion faster than the Storm Guardian had.

Gokudera regarded the other for a second before exploding. "Your sister likes Xanxus? What the hell!"

"Never!" Ryohei exclaimed. "I'll keep them away from each other to the extreme!"

.

"Finally! Took you long enough!" Gokudera grumbled when Hibari came through the front door. The Storm Guardian's irritation only increased as the other walked in, trailing still drying blood off his soaked clothes. "Hey! You're dirtying the carpet!"

"Where is he?" Hibari asked, ignoring him.

"Sheesh," Gokudera sighed, slapping a hand to his head. "Infirmary. Hurry up already."

Hibari walked past him without a second glance, knowing that if Yamamoto was in the infirmary, then he at least didn't blow him up along with the base.

The room wasn't dark, and the beeps of a heart monitor didn't greet him when he entered. Instead, he found the Rain Guardian in pajamas sitting up and reading a book, looking more or less like someone ready to turn in for the night despite being surrounded by unused medical equipment.

Yamamoto immediately brightened up when he saw Hibari and placed his book down on the sheets. "Hey," he grinned.

"You're alive…" Hibari stated emotionlessly.

The other chuckled. "Well… yeah… Irie thinks that the bullet shattered because it absorbed too much of my Flames. Weird huh?" He yawned, not bothering to stretch. "It still kind of sucks since I have to stay here for a little bit. Blood loss." He laughed nervously again, scratching the back of his head when Hibari didn't answer and merely stood there staring at him. Yamamoto in turn stared back, giving the other a full examination head to toe. "You don't look too good yourself," the Rain Guardian commented.

"It's theirs."

"Wow… so you blew the entire place up yourself? I'm impressed." He waited for the pain that never came. Its tentative source still observed him from a distance, silent yet almost screaming in his ears. "I'm glad you're okay… I was kind of worried, you know, being sent back here just after getting three rooms into the base."

Hibari looked away. "I'm okay," he reaffirmed.

Yamamoto frowned. "You don't look like you are." He sighed when the other didn't answer and instead tossed a ring at Hibari, who caught it easily with his trained reflexes. The skylark studied the object curiously, immediately recognizing it as one of the many Rain Rings he had instructed Kusakabe to throw away.

"It saved me, that ring." He leaned back on his pillow, sighing from exhaustion but perfectly content at the moment. "Honestly, I never wanted to use it. Where'd you get that one? It was the coolest."

Hibari could feel the faintest of Rain Flames on the surface of the ring and tried to reach out to it, feeling its soft touch on his fingertips.

Yamamoto yawned again when the other didn't answer. "I'm so sleepy…"

"Sleep then," Hibari told him, placing the ring gently on Yamamoto's bedside table.

"Then you go take a shower…" Yamamoto muttered, already half gone. "You don't smell as good with all that blood on you."

Hibari sighed, tonfa out but limp in one hand. He gave the sleeping man a half-hearted nudge in the cheek with the tip of the weapon for the comment before closing the lights and leaving.

.

Hibari visited again the next day despite a growing pain throughout his body due to exhaustion. To his annoyance, the Rain Guardian slept peacefully through his entrance and continued doing so even when Hibird flew into the room and decided to sing promptly afterwards.

"Hey, wake up," he said, shaking the other slightly.

"Huh? Oh, good morning!" Yamamoto yawned.

Hibari frowned. "It's four in the afternoon."

"Good afternoon." His eyes started drooping again until a tonfa prodded his stomach. "Hey hey! That still kind of hurts," he chuckled, now fully awake. He held back a gasp when Hibari threw back the blanket and began unbuttoning his shirt. "Uh… Hibari?" he began nervously. He relaxed when the Cloud Guardian stopped at the spot where the bullet had hit him and examined the new scar, tracing his finger over it.

Hibari withdrew his hand and studied the gel that his fingers had picked up when he touched Yamamoto's scar.

"Ah, Kyoko gave me some scar removal cream. Thought I would try it," Yamamoto explained. He nodded to a tube on the bedside table. "Do you want to try it?"

Hibari regarded the tube for a moment before shaking his head no.

Yamamoto chuckled. "Oh come on, it's worth a try. It'll at least lighten the scars a little, since you have so many."

"And how would you know how many scars I have?" Hibari asked him.

"They said all those bullet wounds from before would scar… and you had a lot…" Yamamoto answered, frowning. When Hibari didn't answer, the Rain Guardian sat up a little and grabbed the other's coat gently. "Come on, try it? As thanks for saving your life?"

"I already promised you something."

"Really?"

'He forgot… Does that mean I can get out of it?'

"Go back to sleep," he instructed and turned to leave, wrenching his jacket from Yamamoto's grip.

"Okay." He sounded almost sad but nevertheless lied back down and closed his eyes, and sleep took him easily again before Hibari had enough time to say anymore.

Hibari threw a backward glance before closing the door, his eyes softening ever so slightly.

"I heard that you promised to go drinking with us?" Ryohei exploded in front of him at the entrance.

"No I didn't," Hibari returned, trying to continue walking.

"We're going back to Japan soon, and I know a good place!" Ryohei continued as if Hibari hadn't said anything.

"Hey, we didn't decide on that yet!" Gokudera exclaimed, running into the room. "Why'd you go tell everyone that we're going back to Japan as soon as Yamamoto's recovered?"

"But it sounds pretty good…" Lambo commented.

"You can't drink yet though, right?" Gamma joined in.

"It does sound good," Irie agreed.

"Then you go!" Hibari exploded, starting to get annoyed at the growing crowd.

"Aw, but you know… we're all going back to Namimori… so…" Gokudera began innocently, but a tonfa at his throat stopped him.

"I didn't say I wasn't going," Hibari said, eyes flashing.

"So it's settled!" Ryohei exclaimed excitedly. "Return home to the extreme!"

"You are not flying the plane!" Gokudera told him.

"Huh? But it'll be a lot faster if I…"

* * *

^.^ I read the INP scanlation of Chapter 254 and for some reason I can't stop laughing at the last page where Hibari pokes Squalo with his tonfa. XD There just HAD to be a little speech bubble with "poke" in that top panel.

Hm… after I finish this story, I think I might go back and edit it a bit so it's not so… abrupt? Or make it better ^.^. Haha I'm not sure yet. Do people do that?

Anyways, thanks for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

-Present-

"First to fall off the roof loses," Reborn announced, raising his hand.

"Huh? Isn't that..." Tsuna began, but the Arcobaleno had already shouted, "Go!" and two flashes sped towards each other on the roof, each clash sending a strong gust of air through the vicinity.

"Why did you encourage them?" Tsuna exclaimed to his teacher, aghast at the sight of two of his guardians fighting once again.

"It is your duty as their boss to have stopped them before it got to this point," Reborn answered, shrugging. "Besides, this is good training for the two."

"But off the roof? Isn't that a little too extreme?" Gokudera asked.

"Do you question my methods?"

"Er... no..." the Storm Guardian withdrew under the "innocent" stare from the world's best hitman. As much as he'd rather Yamamoto not fall off the roof and Tsuna worrying over the Rain Guardian excessively afterwards, there was absolutely nothing he could do against Reborn. If the Arcobaleno wanted something, there weren't a lot of people in the world who could object to him with their fists.

Yamamoto ducked just in time to avoid having his face smashed in and swung, catching the other tonfa on his sword. He saw an opening and kicked, managing to make the skylark jump back to avoid the damage. However, that only bought him a fraction of a second, as the other sprang straight back at him, lunging for his throat. Yamamoto instinctively raised his sword and caught both tonfa in a lock, finally stopping the other long enough to study what kind of expression Hibari had on his face.

"Hey Hibari?" Yamamato called the other's name, not relinquishing his hold on his katana. "You're not fighting me seriously this time..."

"Shut up," the other snapped.

"But you don't seem to be enjoying this like before..."

Hibari broke the lock and tripped Yamamoto, pinning him to the floor. "It's just your imagination."

Yamamoto sighed. "No it isn't. I mean, if it was, then..." He pushed his attacker off, rolling away to safety before regaining his feet. "You don't have that glint in your eye, you know?"

A tonfa answered him again, this time returned with a sword dipped in Rain Flames. Hibari felt the sudden shock of Flames through him and jumped backward, calling his own Cloud Flames out.

'There's something wrong...'

"Eh... Hibari's Flames..." Tsuna commented, earning a silencing signal from Reborn, who had held a hand out to stop him from saying any more. The Tenth boss of Vongola frowned and returned his attention to the battle, anxious.

Both fighters sensed the abnormality, but nevertheless clashed again.

"Hibari..." Yamamoto kept a firm grip on his katana against the tonfa. "You're Flames prove it. What happened to your resolution?"

"I am resolute," Hibari retorted, knocking Yamamoto's katana aside and lunging in for the kill, concentrating his Cloud Flames onto his tonfa, only to suddenly be flung backwards by a flare from his own Flames. The blast sent everyone, except Reborn of course, who had jumped out of the way, flying backwards, as smoke propagated through the rooftop, obscuring everyone's vision.

"Wah! What happened?" Tsuna exclaimed as Gokudera helped him up, searching frantically for any damage on the Tenth.

"His Flames backfired... it happens," Reborn replied. "When the user is not resolute enough, he cannot use the Flames. Didn't I teach you that from the very beginning, my idiot student?"

"Oh..."

"Hibari!" They heard a yell from somewhere in the smoke and was once again stopped from interfering by Reborn.

"Reborn..."

"This is their fight," the Arcobaleno told him. "Let him finish it."

Hibari felt nothing but air under his feet, gravity threatening to pull him to the ground several stories below if not for the hand that held his own desperately. He felt himself rising, flying, and suddenly he was on the roof again, in a shaking embrace of someone larger than him. Yamamoto finally get go, calming his nervous breathing. He had been blown back, but he saw the other sliding off the side, and everything else happened in infinity: running across the roof, grabbing the hand that didn't bother moving to catch the side of the roof. For a split second he had remembered the scene from the future, the blood, but all that disappeared as his own hand found the other's.

The Rain Guardian chuckled awkwardly, squinting and trying to make out the skylark in the smoke. "Are you okay?" He was glad that the other hadn't instinctively knocked his lights out after he had saved him. Yamamoto was certain he had taken at least a minute or two to collect his own thoughts. Flying over the side of the roof towards the concrete and, if he was lucky, bushes below then wouldn't have evoked any response from him in his current state.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" Hibari snapped quietly, apparently not completely unshaken himself. He put a hand to his head, sighing. Suddenly losing control of his own Flames in a battle was something he definitely refused to ignore, unlike Yamamoto. However, if the two were connected, then there was nothing he could do about it.

Yamamoto chuckled again, sensing the other's uneasiness but happy that Hibari was more or less calmer now. "I don't know; I can't see you."

"Let's go," Reborn said, pulling Tsuna by a finger as he began to leave the roof.

"What? Ouch!"

"Tenth!"

"They'll be fine," Reborn said. Tsuna stole one last worried glance into the smoke before the Arcobaleno pulled through the doorway.

-Future-

"I... don't... believe... it!" Gokudera gasped when he finally found his feet on solid ground again. The others followed quietly out, edging away from the Storm Guardian and the brewing argument he was about to start with a certain idiot in orange who just had to mess with the controls during the flight.

"Sasagawa Ryohei!" Gokudera snarled when the Sun Guardian finally came out of the plane, looking a little dazed but otherwise unharmed.

"Hey, Octopus-head!" Ryohei greeted him cheerfully as if nothing had happened. If anything, this only fueled the volcano about to explode in the airport.

"I'll ask you one more time. Did you or did you not decide to turn the plane into the mountains as we were flying over China?"

"But I saw a bird and I didn't want the plane to..."

"It was a cloud! What the hell kind of bird would fly up there?" Lambo thanked the lucky stars that they had rented a portion of the airport, sparing them from awkward glances that would have certainly came from random people getting off of other flights.

"Hey hey, we've landed without..." Yamamoto chuckled at the glare Gokudera was giving him and decided to change the wording a little, "too much trouble, right?" He put a firm hand on the other's shoulder and made to lead him away from the spark. "Let's just all get into the cars and rest at the hotel."

"If you want to get carsick that much, then you're sitting with the Lawn Head! I refuse to be in another vehicle with him."

Yamamoto's grin dropped just a little, but he knew how to play cards well this time. "Oh... I guess I can... if you rather sit with Hibari..." he muttered.

"I change my mind," Gokudera immediately responded and looked at Lambo, who took a few steps back.

"Uh... I'm going with Giannini so..." Lambo stuttered.

Meanwhile, the skylark had finally made it out of the plane and went straight for the Sun Guardian, his movement a little uncoordinated but deadly nonetheless. A whack echoed through the room within the next second as a tonfa connected with Ryohei's jaw.

"Uh oh..." Yamamoto began, but it was too late; the Sun Guardian had already jumped back to his feet, fists raised and ready for a fight.

"Yeah! Extreme training at the airport!" Ryohei declared.

"I'll... bite you death..." Hibari hissed, raising his tonfa. The two tensed and then sprang at each other only to suddenly have someone grab each of them from behind. Gokudera held Ryohei back, yelling obscenities as the other struggled to get free.

"Yamamoto Takeshi..."

"Yes?" the Rain Guardian answered innocently, refusing to let go of the other's waist.

"Let me go," Hibari hissed, enunciating each word slowly.

"But you're tired... you shouldn't be fighting..." Yamamoto whispered; the skylark felt the soft tickle of breath against the back of his ears, the voice calm and content like the Rain.

"I don't need you telling me what to do," Hibari snapped, shrugging the other off. He felt his ears heat up and inwardly cursed, knowing that the rest of his face must be starting to get red too.

"Hey..." Hibari froze when the other spoke, knowing full well that Yamamoto could see his blush. "You're kind of red. Do you have a fever?"

'What the hell?' floated through the Cloud Guardian's mind as a hand suddenly brushed against his forehead, feeling for a temperature.

Yamamoto frowned. "You are a little warm though... we should hurry to the hotel then so you can rest."

Hibari quickly swatted the hand away. "Stop touching me..."

"Ah ha ha..." Yamamoto chuckled, scratching his head awkwardly. "Sorry..."

"Our rides are here!" Spanner interrupted the commotion, prompting everyone to move.

"Let's go!" Yamamoto said excitedly as Hibari sighed and allowed the lovestruck swallow to follow him to the car. At the back of his mind, the smallest hint of fear poked at him, like the waves that washed at the solid rock formations at the brim of the ocean and turned everything to sand and eventually nothingness.

"What's wrong?" Giannini asked, snapping Lambo back into reality as the Thunder Guardian looked away from the two.

"Ah, it's nothing," Lambo answered cheerfully. "Let's get into the car before Gokudera or Ryohei decide to switch."

.

"Nii-san!" Kyoko greeted her brother when he got out the car, looking a little bruised from the ride with Gokudera.

"Hey! You made it here okay!" Ryohei said cheerfully as Gokudera grumpily got out of the car and headed to his room for a nice long rest. The Varia and the main Vongola team had taken different planes back, which might have been for the best considering for the time being only Gokudera and Hibari had tried to kill the Sun Guardian. "Did anything happen?" Ryohei suddenly turned serious.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Uh... I mean..." Ryohei began, not knowing how to put it into words. The idea of his precious little sister being together with Xanxus was enough to take away his ability to speak, Italian and Japanese.

"Oh! By the way, Hana-chan and Haru-chan arrived earlier..." Kyoko told him cheerfully as someone yelled out excitedly behind her.

"It's been so long!" Haru exclaimed, while Hana merely gave Ryohei a nod, a small smile gracing her lips.

"Yeah, it has," Ryohei grinned, pushing the thoughts about Xanxus and his sister to the back of his head for the time being. "It's great to be back."

.

"If you're not Ryohei, then you can come in," Gokudera called out when someone knocked at his door. It was fairly easy for him to tell if it wasn't the Sun Guardian anyway; there wouldn't have been a knock. However, to his surprise, Lambo of all people entered, an awkward frown running across his face. "What's up?"

"Uh... I was just wondering about our schedule," Lambo said meekly.

"Seriously? Drinking tonight with everyone, remember to bring a weapon or something. I don't know about the Varia, but Ryohei sometimes can't hold his alcohol. Oh, but you're not allowed to drink," he added, remembering that Lambo was still underage.

"I know, I know!" Lambo lamented.

"What is that it then?"

"Uh... I was just wondering..."

'Knew it...' Gokudera thought. After all, it was hard to miss earlier, but he had thought that he distracted enough of the people at the airport with his wrestling with the Sun Guardian.

"Is Hibari and Yamamoto..."

"No," Gokudera replied quickly. 'Dang, he's really good at catching this stuff...'

"Really?" Lambo frowned.

"Well... not yet? I don't know. It's Hibari we're talking about."

"Oh, I see... so it's Yamamoto who's... first..."

Gokudera chuckled. "I wouldn't know that. Who knows. Hibari's a little dense you know."

Lambo smiled a little. "I guess it's a good thing then... that they're together..."

"They're not! Sheesh," Gokudera sighed. "Don't go around spreading rumors. Why are you so curious?"

"Oh, because Yamamoto doesn't seem as... I don't know... He's lost some of that 'look', you know? The one he had after his father..."

"Yeah. You're right..." Gokudera smiled, agreeing. He had been so busy with the missions that two never connected until now. 'First Ryohei, then Lambo… I'm getting slow at this…'

.

"Kyoya!" Dino called out happily as he barged into the room only to have a cushion smack into his face.

"Why are you here?" Hibari asked, slowly getting off the couch he had been sleeping on, tonfa ready to strike in case his former teacher couldn't come up with a good enough reason for waking him.

"Hey hey! I just got back from Italy! We had a few loose ends to tie up regarding negotiations between Fuoco and some of the other families." He slowly backed away from the incoming tonfa. "Aren't you glad to see me too?" He ducked.

Dino laughed, catching the tonfa with his whip. "It's good to see you're doing well."

"I was doing well, but you had to barge in..."

"You didn't lock your door."

"We rented the entire hotel. Why would I have to lock my door? It's herbivores like you who..."

"Hey Hibari? There's a massage place downstairs, it might help with..." Yamamoto poked his head into the room and saw Dino. "Ah, when did you get here? It's been a while."

"Just now," Dino answered pleasantly.

Yamamoto chuckled. "I'll leave you two to your catching up then..." The door closed.

Dino turned back to Hibari to find the other glaring at him. "Did I..." he dared to guess. "We're you waiting for him?"

The elevator door down the hallway just barely opened before Yamamoto felt someone run past him, into the elevator, and shut the door. "Uh..." He turned around to see Hibari, tonfa out, breathing hard. He stumbled slightly and made his way to the stairway, determined to chase the head of the Chiavorone Family all the way down to the lobby. Yamamoto caught his arm just as he was about descend, stopping him.

"Let me go," Hibari told him.

"Shouldn't you rest? You're still a little airsick right?"

Hibari glared at him before swinging, hitting the Rain Guardian in the stomach with the tonfa, making him let go. Yamamoto fell, the wind knocked out of him.

"Give that to the Bucking Horse," Yamamoto heard before he realized that Hibari was walking back to his room. He chuckled, trying to ignore the pain in his stomach as he got up. "I don't have any tonfa, silly..." He quickly inspected his ailing stomach. 'It could be worse...'

* * *

Okay, so here's a little extra "short story" I wrote in a moment of insanity after I saw my friend's prompt for a 5 page story about love between 2 objects. Please excuse any vulgar language and whatever else offensive material:

The broom stared at the mop. The mop stared at the broom. The broom continued to stare at the mop. The mop continued to stare at the broom. The broom is still f-ing staring at the mop. The mop is doing the same. What the hell are they doing? I don't know. But I do know that the broom is staring at the mop and the mop is staring at the broom. What a beautiful uneventful love they have for each other. See? Two people in love...wait two THINGS in love can just show love via staring.

So anyways, the broom stared... wait, I think both are male. The End.

I need a life... Then again, that didn't get very far haha. I can't imagine writing 5 pages like that XD. Sorry about the longer update times; school is hectic T.T.

Anyways, thanks for reading!


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

-Present-

Another swing from the tonfa made Yamamoto duck again, and, partly because Hibari was still shaken from the earlier incident and because he was really getting tired of this, the swordsman caught the tonfa and wrenched it forcefully out of the other's surprised hand before tossing it far away to the other side of the roof. Hibari wasted no time in attacking with the other tonfa, hitting Yamamoto in the stomach and knocking the air out of the Rain Guardian.

The skylark smirked slightly; he was finally feeling a hint of animosity from the other when he suddenly realized that the other was also grinning. "What's so funny?" he asked the gasping Rain Guardian.

"I win," Yamamoto said.

Hibari blinked. Now the swallow was talking nonsense. He wondered if one of his previous attacks had hit the other's head when he suddenly noticed the thin line of Rain Flames tracing his arm. Yamamoto sighed and straightened up while Hibari tried to swing at in him in vain, but his arm had already fallen asleep and the Rain Guardian caught Hibari's wrist effortlessly.

Instinctively, the Cloud Guardian tried to wrench himself out of the other's grasp, but his legs, also coated with the Rain Flames, gave way, and he stumbled. Yamamoto caught him, but the proud skylark pushed him away, choosing instead to lie on the ground, trying to catch his breath. He made a final attempt to grab the tonfa discarded nearby before a hand grabbed his.

"No more," Yamamoto said sternly. "Let's talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," Hibari returned, looking away.

"Why did your Flames backfire earlier?" Yamamoto questioned, ignoring him. "Aren't you always resolute about fighting? Why did it happen only with me?" Hibari continued averting his eyes, choosing to lie silently on the floor, and the Rain Guardian sighed, his voice lowering to a whisper. "Why do you have to give me false hope?"

Hibari looked back at Yamamoto only to find the other now looking away.

"Just… just give me the word, and I'll never bug you again…" Yamamoto stuttered. "Please… let's just stop this. I'm tired of it…" Hibari studied the other's profile curiously; he had seen Yamamoto depressed before, but this time it was different, almost begging. It annoyed the prefect to no end; he wanted that expression to disappear from the other's face.

When he didn't hear anything save from the calming breathing from Hibari, Yamamoto turned back, their eyes meeting instantly. He mentally started preparing himself for the rejection; this was going to be the last time he told himself. Then he can probably finally move on and try to forget everything, from the moment his feet touched the world of ten years in the future to his current situation. The faintest memory of empty eyes stared back at him, threatening to reappear before him once again. The scent of blood, the smell of gunpowder, the last breath taken…

"Time…" Yamamoto snapped back into reality, realizing that Hibari had spoken.

"What?" he returned, dumbfounded.

"I need… some time," Hibari said hesitantly.

"Time…" Yamamoto repeated the word. It wasn't one of rejection.

"Will you wait?" Hibari asked, the same strange hesitance that didn't fit him lining his words.

Yamamoto sighed in relief, his grin returning slightly. "Of course," he breathed.

-Future-

"Yamamoto! Hey! Long time no see!" Dino greeted the Rain Guardian unnaturally as the former opened the door. He had managed to escape the Cloud Guardian in time, but who knows what Hibari had done to Yamamoto to vent the anger originally directed towards the head of the Chiavorone Family. Dino felt partially responsible for leaving Yamamoto like that, but at least… he suddenly realized the Rain Guardian did indeed receive a nice blow to the stomach from the uncontrollable skylark.

"It's only been five minutes," Yamamoto groaned as he dragged himself over to the sofa and slumped into its surface. True, Hibari hadn't hit him as hard as usual, but it still hurt quite a lot.

"Uh… that wasn't because of me, was it?" Dino asked, frowning.

"Don't worry about it," Yamamoto said, forcing a pained grin. 'Maybe next time I should wear a cushion underneath my shirt or something…' The pang in his stomach was slowly ebbing away, although it was not as fast as he would've preferred. "So I heard you guys managed to stop the negotiations down at the port just in time," he managed to say.

Dino chuckled awkwardly. "Well, it was all thanks to the Varia. Squalo contacted me as soon as they entered the mansion, and Fuoco's big-mouthed boss blurted everything almost right into the phone."

"Is your men okay?" Yamamoto asked, knowing how much Dino cared for those in his family. The Chiavorone was by no means a weak Famiglia, but there were only a few like Dino who could skillfully manipulate the Flames and Box Weapons, which, in this age of warfare, was essential in a fight.

"Actually, we didn't lose anyone," Dino said, scratching his head awkwardly.

"Huh? That's great!"

"Well, I kind of went in myself, and everyone was cheering me on from the distance."

Yamamoto stared at him for second before laughing, "You really are something. Did they fire?"

"Our boss ingeniously feigned tripping over one of the port ropes, surprising everyone, before he went in for the attack. They never had time to regain their senses and fire any bullets," Romario said upon entering, carrying the last of the luggage from downstairs.

"Hey! No I… Romario, you don't have to carry all that up yourself! It's your day off!" Dino tried to change the subject.

Yamamoto chuckled at the scene as Romario insisted that it was alright and left before Dino could scold him any further.

Dino walked back from the door, tripped over the rug, and miraculously landed back in the sofa he was sitting in before. He straightened quickly, grinning embarrassedly as he tried to return to the conversation. The Sky Flame user suddenly remembered that he was trying to avoid the conversation in the first place and finally settled with the very thing he wanted to ask in the beginning. "So how are things between you and Kyoya?"

"Huh? That's…" Yamamoto replied, surprised at the sudden turn. He had been preparing for this question from the beginning, but didn't expect it to come up this late. "You know?"

"I can tell," Dino chuckled. "You know, he was a brilliant student."

"Oh, that's right… you trained him a while back…"

The older man sighed, leaning back on his sofa. "He'd never back down, even when all odds were against him. At the beginning, there were even times when I thought I would lose, even though his level of fighting back then wasn't as high as it is now," he reminisced. "Yup… Kyoya's the type of person who had no limits, nothing to hold him back from becoming stronger. You on the other hand…"

"I've broken my arm before, so I know my limits," Yamamoto replied, chuckling.

Dino shook his head, "That's not what I meant. You're a little like Kyoya, you know?"

"Huh?"

"I heard the reports from Gokudera. It looks like you might have the same potential as Kyoya when it comes to fighting."

Yamamoto shook his head. "True or not, I don't think I can ever match his willpower."

"Nah, of course you can. Your reasons might be different, but a resolute mind, no matter what you have your mind set on, will give you strength."

Yamamoto finally understood what Dino was getting at. "I'm fine, really," he smiled, closing his eyes. "It's all behind me now."

"You still haven't visited his grave, after that time," Dino pointed out.

"I just need… a little time."

Dino nodded. "I understand." He laughed. "Maybe next time, you can introduce Kyoya to him…"

"That's not…" Yamamoto began, blushing at the thought.

"I know. I know." Dino grinned. "Kyoya's never been in love before, so it'll take him some time, but stay strong! I'm rooting for you two!"

Yamamoto sighed, defeated. "Thanks."

Dino grinned. "So anyway, Ryohei invited me to the drinking party. Is everyone going? It's going to be a little rowdy."

The Rain Guardian laughed. "We'll see."

.

"This is the life!" Lussuria sighed contently as he downed another glass of wine, the rest of the Varia in the room wondering why they even bothered gathering in the lobby of their floor when they could've stayed in the relaxing comfort of their own suites.

"It's bad to drink in front of children," Fran commented as he conjured up an illusionary puppy for Hiro, who laughed gleefully as the dog licked his face.

"Maybe Hiro-kun wants some," Bel joked.

"You're a horrible senpai," Fran retorted, earning a knife to the back. He sighed and wrenched the object out of his back, tossing it into the nearby trash bin so Hiro wouldn't accidentally touch it.

"Hey! I didn't say you could do that!" Bel hissed.

"You're the one who gave it to me."

"You want to die?"

"Hey now! Remember our dear Hiro-kun here," Lussuria interrupted them in a singsong voice.

"You're the one who started it with your drinking," Squalo joined in, irritated by the commotion the others were causing.

Meanwhile, Levi looked from the arguing group to Xanxus, seated in a chair by the window, carefully reading the expression on his boss's face. "Should I electrocute them?" he offered but got no response. Head resting on a hand, the Varia terror was far away at the moment, not bothering to focus on his surroundings.

However, a soft knock on the door quickly brought Xanxus back, and he perked up slightly, eyeing the door carefully as the newcomer slowly opened it, cautiously peeking into the room.

"Am I disturbing anyone?" Kyoko asked.

"Not at all!" Lussuria answered gaily.

"Nope. But tell these idiots to stop drinking and throwing knives around," Fran interrupted.

"I only threw one!" Bel retorted.

"Hiro-kun's going to be the next boss right? Might as well teach him early!" Lussuria added, his face red from the alcohol.

"I thought you were on my side," Fran sighed.

"Huh? What were we talking about?" Levi asked.

As the noise began to escalate, the Rain Flame specialist of the Varia noticed the sudden tension coming from a certain silent someone in the same room. He knew he had to act fast now; after all, it would be a waste for the Varia to get blown half way to hell by their own leader right after they had finally finished such an important operation. Squalo looked from one member to another, trying in vain to catch their attention. He thought he had finally managed to meet eyes with Lussuria and quickly glanced at the door, hinting for the Sun Flame user to leave, but by the time his focus returned to the other, Lussuria was already once again enjoying Fran and Bel's bickering.

'Levi should be able to…' Levi was staring absentmindedly at the others, probably tuning out his surroundings to better deal with them, which was unfortunate at the moment.

"Voi! Forget it!" Squalo finally snapped and stomped to the door, catching everyone's attention. "I'm going back to my room where I won't be disturbed. Maybe you should too," he hissed, trying to control his voice and saying the last sentence slowly so he could emphasize it. Squalo looked at Xanxus one last time before rushing out the room. The others finally turned their attention to their boss, and it took almost all they had to not run out of the room.

"Oh! I heard they have a great selection of alcohol downstairs!" Lussuria proclaimed. "Anyone care to join me?"

"I'll go," Levi agreed. "I wonder if they have…"

"Maybe I should try," Bel said, grinning. "It could be interesting."

"Please try when we're not there." Levi said. "I'd rather not end up playing your bill."

"Are you that cheap?" Bel retorted.

"I meant repair bills…" Their bickering voices trailed away as they left the floor.

"I'll take Hiro downstairs," Fran said, getting up and picking up the child. He left the room naturally, unlike the other four, giving Kyoko a smile and nod as he passed her. She chuckled and gave him a wave, lowering her hand awkwardly when the door finally closed, separating her and Xanxus from the rest of world.

Their eyes met, violent red on soft brown, and Kyoko smiled warmly. "You look well."

"Why wouldn't I be?" he responded, the corners of his lips bent opposite of its usual position ever so slightly.

"Nii-san mentioned some sort of drinking party tonight. Are you going?"

"Not my thing," Xanxus answered briskly, ironically reaching for one of the bottles of wine Lussuria had brought up earlier.

"I suppose not," Kyoko chuckled. "In that case would you care to accompany me for dinner? I know a pretty good restaurant close by. It's quiet."

"Wouldn't you rather be with your brother and the others?"

"Haru-chan and Hana-chan can take care of them," she reassured him.

He hesitated for a split second before saying, "Fine…"

Kyoko walked over the window, looking outside to the dimming sky above and brightening city below. She closed her eyes, mustering up the courage to finally get to the one thing she had been trying to say from the beginning. However, it just seemed a little strange for the all powerful Varia leader to be accepting shows of gratitude. She opened her eyes again, seeing the same scene outside. She smiled. "Thank you, Xanxus… for saving me."

She felt warm arms around her; she didn't even hear him move out of his seat earlier but this had ceased to surprise her, as she welcomed the familiar warmth, the protection, the slightest hint of love the other disliked showing when the others were around.

"Don't do that again," he breathed into her ear.

Kyoko chuckled. "Same goes for you."

.

"Is it really necessary to invite everyone?" Gokudera sighed, putting a hand over his head. He had decided to take a nice long nap on the sofa to get rid of the jetlag and already another had to disturb his much needed rest.

"Don't worry," Yamamoto assured him, chuckling. "We're all part of Vongola, aren't we?"

"I'm not in the mood to pay for property damages," Gokudera muttered.

"Oh, come on," the Rain Guardian insisted good-naturedly.

"Then you're responsible for Hibari if he decides to 'bite' anyone to death after getting drunk."

Yamamoto chuckled. "I'm sure he won't get that drunk. He's Hibari, remember?"

"Dude, have you ever seen him drink?"

Yamamoto considered for a moment. "Well… not really… Ryohei has though…"

"Don't mention that Lawn Head's name in front of me! Just hearing his name makes me airsick."

"But we're not flying…" Yamamoto began to explain.

"Shut it," Gokudera retorted. "Anyway, I've warned you, so I consider myself free of blame. Goodnight." He turned around so that he faced the back of the sofa and covered his head with his jacket with an air of finality.

Yamamoto grinned sheepishly as he shrugged and left the Storm Guardian to his hopefully peaceful rest until the drinking party.

'I hope Ryohei didn't pick an expensive bar…' Gokudera thought sarcastically as he drifted into slumber. 'Imagine the expenses… for property damage… and the Varia too…'

Meanwhile, the much talked about Sun Guardian was talking more or less tranquilly, in Gokudera's terms, with Hana on another floor.

"And then I drove to the extreme and Dr. Shamal managed to save Yamamoto," he finished, finally taking a breath.

"Sounds like a busy week," Hana commented, shaking her head. She admitted to herself that she appreciated the fact that Ryohei no longer withheld any information about Vongola to her, but it hadn't occurred to her how much her boyfriend could talk about when it came to Vongola, even given the fact that he was currently fired up about the subject and speaking at 100 miles per hour.

"Yeah! And we're going to drink tonight to celebrate!" Ryohei declared. "You're coming, right?"

"Eh? But… Kyoko…" As much as she liked him, she didn't really like the idea of going to a bar with Ryohei.

"Kyoko-chan's coming for sure!" Ryohei readily said, grinning. "If you want, you three can sit at a table or something… away from us…" he added the last part carefully, trying to indicate his wish for her to sit next to him at the bar, which may or maybe not be a good idea. Then again, Hana thought, it might be best to locate herself somewhere where she could easily give the Sun Guardian a good whack on the head if things got too out of hand.

"Fine," she sighed. 'This is not going to end well…'

* * *

Ah! I am so sorry this chapter is so late T.T. I finally adjusted to college this semester and then midterms suddenly hit ugh… horrible horrible… Sigh… All I see right now is cyclohexanes and nucleosomes flying around me. Noooo disappear disappear! Sigh… then a bunch of other stuff happened, and I was unable to write for a while, but now I'm back! Hopefully, I can still update this within the month instead of semester.

Sigh… And I had about one third of this chapter written earlier, stuck it on my flash drive, and decided to clean my flash drive… so… AHHH! T.T Sorry again for its super lateness.

Anyways, thanks for reading! More 8018 next chapter! I promise!


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

-Present-

"Time… he said he needed time… so that means I still have a chance right?" Yamamoto muttered to himself while pacing the seemingly empty classroom as Gokudera and Tsuna watched from outside.

"Maybe we should call the doctor again?" Gokudera muttered.

"Yeah, I think Yamamoto's going crazy," Tsuna agreed, worry lining his voice, only to suddenly get whacked on the head by a slipper.

"Ow! Reborn!" he exclaimed, rubbing his head.

"He'll be fine. He's your Rain Guardian, remember?" the Arcobaleno said seriously to him.

"But…"

"Give them a little time."

"This is crazy," Gokudera said, shaking his head.

"The stage was set the moment Yamamoto got hit by the bazooka." Reborn turned the slipper back to Leon and pet it almost fondly. "There's no turning back now. As boss, you have to make sure this ends smoothly. Remember, you are responsible for the well-being of your subordinates, both physical and mental."

"Yeah yeah, I get it," Tsuna sighed, looking back at Yamamoto. "This is just so hard though."

.

Hibari stared absentmindedly outside the window of the committee room, ignoring the mound of paperwork waiting for him on his desk. It was nearly dusk; the sun had already sunk close to the horizon, turning the sky a beautiful streaked red-orange. A few birds flew through the sky to their nests to turn in for the evening and the outside world gave a sigh as it readied for the transition from day to night.

"Kyou-san?" Kusakabe asked, slightly worried. The committee head had been like this the entire day after returning from the rooftop: just staring at the scenery outside. Kusakabe was quite used to Hibari sleeping through the day in his chair, but his "enjoyment" of nature had never been so long; Hibari didn't have a particularly high tolerance level for anything that moved or made noise, save for Hibird.

"Hm?" Hibari turned to him, his gaze as sharp as usual but missing its usual bloodthirsty aura.

"Uh…" the vice-president couldn't bring himself to ask if anything was wrong, knowing that it'll probably only make it worse. He gulped and instead said, "We need to finish the paperwork before the end of today."

Hibari stared at the mound of paper in front of him. He hadn't realized how large it had grown till now. Shrugging, he grabbed a packet off the top and began reading, letting the task take his mind off the one question that he didn't want to answer.

Why was the spot on the left side of his chest hurting?

-Future-

"Ryohei… Where's Kyoko?" Hana questioned, her arms crossed as she sternly glared down the all powerful Sun Guardian.

"Huh? I thought she was coming," Ryohei replied, scratching his head in confusion.

"You mean you assumed," she accused him mercilessly.

"Wait!" Ryohei suddenly came to a rather incorrect revelation, much to the dismay of Hana. "If she's not here, that means she was kidnapped again! No! I must save her!" He instantly spun around, about to jump back in the car, when both Hana and Gokudera grabbed him around the waist, pulling him back.

"Hey! Just because Kyoko's not here doesn't mean she's been kidnapped!" Hana yelled to the struggling Ryohei.

"Yeah! She's obviously with Xanxus!" Gokudera added irritably. If they were going to start a commotion already without entering the bar, he'd hate to see what was coming up next. Hana instantly let go of Ryohei out of surprise as soon as she heard what Gokudera had said, and the sudden lack of force helping him hold the Sun Guardian back almost sent him flying.

"I'll keep him away from Kyoko to the extreme!" Ryohei declared with renewed force as Gokudera desperately tried to hold him back.

"She really is with that guy?" Hana exclaimed before sighing. "Darn, I'd prefer it if she was with Tsuna. At least he didn't look like a mafia boss."

"Tsuna's…" Ryohei began, looking at Gokudera nervously.

"Tsuna's so much cooler!" Haru interrupted, jumping into the conversation. "He's also kinder and sweeter and…"

"Yeah, Tsuna's a good guy," Hana agreed.

"The term is 'was'! Tsuna's dead, okay?" Gokudera suddenly snapped and let go of Ryohei, surprising the two girls and sending Ryohei flying. "He's been dead for over a year now, so stop dreaming!" He stomped off before anyone could respond and disappeared into the building.

"Geez, I was just trying to lighten the mood since you guys don't seem too happy about Kyoko and Xanxus," Hana said after regaining her composure, frowning.

"Yeah, but try not to mention Tsuna like that in front of Gokudera," Ryohei told the two when he got back to his feet, having miraculously calmed down himself after seeing Gokudera explode. Crashing into the nearest lamppost probably also helped as he now sported a sizable bruise on his forehead.

"Well I'm glad you've calmed down," Hana said indignantly.

"Yeah, but my sister… and Xanxus…" Ryohei began lamenting again; Hana could tell he was doing all he can to not run to the car and drive back this instant.

"She's a big girl now. I'm sure she knows what she's doing," Hana reassured him, grabbing his arm and starting to drag him to the bar.

"But you also…"

Hana raised a finger to his mouth, silencing him. "I just said I'd rather she was with Tsuna. It doesn't mean I'm not okay with it." She sighed. "Sheesh, you haven't seen the two of them together have you?"

"No…" he pouted.

Hana smirked, "It's actually kind of sweet in a way. Actually, I think he's kind of like you."

"How so?" Ryohei couldn't fathom what qualities he and the leader of the Varia, who was once willing to kill anyone in his way to obtain the Vongola leadership, would share.

"Crazy protective."

"Huh?"

"Forget it." She slapped Ryohei on the back, forcing him towards the entrance of the bar. "Now let's drink already!"

.

"I'll order five…" Lussuria began as soon as he sat down, earning indignant glares from the rest of the attending Varia around him.

"You want to die, making me drink that?" Bel warned.

"Whatever are you talking about? They're for me!" Lussuria answered innocently.

"Hey! We have a budget you know!" Gokudera hissed.

"Aw how cheap. Not even willing to pay for well-deserved drinks," the Sun Flame user complained.

"I mean the bar if you guys get too drunk and demolish it." The Storm Guardian glared at him.

"Oh, no worries! We'll behave!" Lussuria grinned as he downed the first glass. "Delicious. Good choice of a bar."

The bartender looked at him, smiling slightly at the compliment but at the same time growing increasingly worried inside. He had a feeling that he shouldn't have dealt with this crowd, but now was not exactly the right time to go back on the reservation.

Ten minutes later when everyone at the bar had ordered, Gokudera was glaring at the rest of his group behind his first glass of alcohol, his mood not improving in the slightest. The bar only fit ten, and the three scientists and Lambo wisely chose to sit at a nearby table, away from the impeding ruckus.

"I heard that some of the nonalcoholic drinks are quite good," Irie said while looking at the menu in an attempt to make Lambo feel better.

"I know, I know," the Thunder Guardian sighed.

"Hm, I don't think I'll have anything alcoholic today…" Irie continued, grinning a little. "I'll join you, Lambo. We can be the two sane people here."

"Oh come on, don't tell me you came all the way here just to order some juice," Giannini said.

"Irie's not that tolerant," Spanner informed them, making Irie cringe.

"No worries! Spanner and I'll just drink your share!" Giannini laughed. Lambo and Irie sighed in defeat.

"Haru can definitely out drink anyone!" Haru declared back at the bar, already turning slightly red from the alcohol.

"Doesn't look that way," Hana commented while calmly enjoying her own beverage.

"You're just jealous," Haru retorted.

"Why would I be jealous? Besides, it's not like you can get me to compete in one of those stupid drinking contests."

"Contest?" Ryohei asked, his eyes lighting up.

Fortunately, Hana immediately saw the danger and kicked him under the table, whispering a firm, "No."

.

"How's the alcohol?" Yamamoto asked, eyeing Hibari's only half-empty first glass of a red colored drink.

"Too sweet," came the response.

"Ah…" Yamamoto's curiosity about Hibari's choice in flavors was partially answered. "Would a bitterer one suit you?"

"No need. It's fine," he replied curtly, taking another sip.

Yamamoto chuckled. "Do you prefer plain Japanese sake more? You should just try ordering that."

"I said its fine," Hibari repeated irritably.

'Uh oh… angry drunk? Gokudera's not going to be happy,' the Rain Guardian thought with a sense of dread. 'Have to make sure nothing too bad happens ha ha…' He finished off his own glass and ordered another one, trying to calm down. 'It's not like a fight will start out. It's only us here after all. Right?' Gokudera elbowed him at that instant, making him jump.

"You're drinking too much," the Storm Guardian mouthed to him.

"Huh?" Yamamoto realized that he was on his fifth in relation to Gokudera's second. "Oh!" He chuckled. "My bad." He attempted to enjoy his next sip slowly. 'It'll be bad if I get drunk before Hibari does,' he thought.

"How's your drink?" Yamamoto asked Gokudera, trying to avoid irritating Hibari any further, but he instantly sensed the aura of irritation around the Storm Guardian.

"Okay."

"This place has a huge variety," Yamamoto grinned. "It's been a while since we've drank like this."

"Yeah?"

"Yup! Also, the atmosphere's pretty well set up…"

The corners of Gokudera's lips turned upward just a little. "You don't have to cheer me up, you know."

Yamamoto, however, frowned in response. "But you went through the effort to set up the reservation and everything. You should at least enjoy it."

"Yeah…" Gokudera sighed. "Thanks."

Yamamoto chuckled. "So let's drink until we're so out of it we don't know how to get back!"

"No,' came the immediate reply.

.

As much as Gokudera had wanted to avoid it, an hour later, most of the drinkers had already had a little more than they could handle, but unfortunately wasn't showing it much in terms of stopping.

"Drinking contest to the extreme!" Ryohei declared again as he raised his glass, eyes flashing with fire. Again, Hana had to stomp on his foot, but he seemed to have become numb to the action, having been stomped on at least ten times already the past hour.

"Uh… Hibari, maybe you shouldn't be drinking so much…" Yamamoto attempted but all that answered him was a slam of a mug down on the table right next to him and a glare at the bartender, who hurriedly refilled it. The Rain Guardian's own repertoire of drinks had left him a little red since long ago, but his judgment seemed clear enough, according to Gokudera. At least he had enough sense to attempt to stop Hibari from rising any further in the BAC scale.

The Varia were still going at full speed: Levi was drinking silently while the other three were arguing over some random detail over a past mission. Gokudera eyed them a little nervously as the tension seemed to pick up. He could sense the chaos coming. Their increasingly loud voices filled the bar as another set of cocktails were ordered. The Storm Guardian then saw the trigger: an empty glass in an angry Squalo's hand.

Before Gokudera could motion to the bar tender to refill the mug or take it away, the glass went flying across the bar, and knocked Hibari's own mug out of his hand. The sound of shattering pieces of crystal sounded throughout of the silent bar, and its inhabitants held their breath, waiting for the storm. Lussuria and Bel tensed, ready to bolt out the nearest exit at the first sign of danger.

Hibari stared at his empty hand, and then looked at Yamamoto, who gulped.

"What happened to my sake?"

"Oh… um… the bartender's getting you a refill," Yamamoto said, signaling to the bartender with a desperate glance to play his part. Luckily, the man understood and quickly grabbed the bottle of beer before reconsidering and filling a new mug with sake instead, handing it to Hibari, who put the cup to his lips and continued to drink slowly as if nothing happened.

The rest of them broke out into uneven conversation again, sensing the passing danger.

"Close one…" Gokudera mouthed to Yamamoto, who had realized that the alcohol in Hibari's glass was now considerably stronger.

"You owe me!" the Rain Guardian grinned back, but he was getting increasingly worried.

However, it wasn't long after when another argument between the Varia sent another glass flying across the bar, much to Gokudera's dismay.

'Relax…' the unfortunate bartender told himself in the span of the split second that his precious glass went flying. 'They're mafia right? Even if this place does get destroyed…'

The phrase, 'Oh shit," alone ran through Gokudera's mind.

The glass collided with Yamamoto, knocking him off his chair. He landed on the floor, out cold.

"Whoa! Hey Yamamoto!" Gokudera jumped off his chair and tried to shake the Rain Guardian awake, but Yamamoto only managed a dazed groan. "You idiots! Can't you fight somewhere else?" he yelled at the Varia.

"Yeah but Squalo…" Lussuria began.

"Voi! Why the hell are you dragging me in this?"

"You threw the cup!" Bel snickered.

A clang of metal made Gokudera shift his attention immediately just in time to see a tonfa flying through the air. Squalo managed to duck just in time, but the weapon instead slammed into Bel, knocking him out.

"Oh, the big mouth's down," the other one who talked too much for his own good commented. The scrape of a chair against the floor made Lussuria look up again to see Hibari off his seat, standing unsteadily and holding his other tonfa.

The skylark's cheeks were flushed from the alcohol and his eyes just a little out of focus, but his voice seemed normal enough as he muttered a, "I'll bite you all to death." He took a step forward and the others instinctively leaned back. "Crowding… noise…" he mumbled and then Gokudera swore he heard something along the lines of, "Yamamoto."

"Oh, so it's not because we knocked out your boyfriend?" Lussuria asked, relieved, earning well deserved hit on the head by Squalo. In a flash, the Cloud Guardian was gone and the next thing the Sun Flame user felt was the impact of the tonfa on his jaw before he passed out. Hibari stumbled a little before turning to Squalo, who drew out his sword.

"Oh right! Bar fight to the extreme!" Ryohei declared, jumping up.

"Would you guys stop it?" Hana yelled at them and then saw Ryohei. "Oh no you don't! Ryohei! Sit down!"

Ryohei watched as Squalo blocked another blow from the single tonfa. "But…" At that moment, the alcohol seemed to have finally taken its toll on the Cloud Guardian, and he took a step back, his vision blurring. Squalo, fired up by the entire affair, took the opportunity and lunged despite yells from Gokudera and Hana.

To his surprise, another blade blocked his. "I think that's enough," Yamamoto chuckled, panting. Squalo saw the blood dripping down the other's head from the glass earlier. He shifted his gaze to the Cloud Guardian behind his rival, seeing that Hibari was absentmindedly looking at something else on the other side of the bar. Squalo gave the Rain Guardian a last glare before withdrawing his sword.

"Sheesh, why didn't you duck earlier, trash?" Squalo returned to his seat and ordered another drink as if there weren't two knocked out Varia members next to him and he didn't just almost impale one of his drinking "buddies" with a sword hidden in his hand.

Yamamoto chuckled before he heard a crash behind him. Hibari had fallen asleep on the floor. The Rain Guardian stared at the skylark in disbelief for a moment.

"He's out!" exclaimed Yamamoto in wonder before noticing Gokudera, who was signaling desperately to him to take Hibari out of the bar as fast as possible.

.

"Wow he's out cold," Yamamoto chuckled in the car as Kusakabe drove them back to the hotel. Ryohei had managed to heal the cut on the Rain Guardian's head, but the dried blood did nothing to make the driver feel like an epic fight hadn't gone on back at the bar. The sleeping skylark in question was resting on Yamamoto's lap, breathing peacefully at the moment without a care in the world. The Rain Guardian resisted the urge to play with the other's hair, wondering what Kusakabe thought of his drunken leader sleeping on the swordsman.

"How was the bar?" the vice-president of the Foundation asked him.

"Could've have been worse," the Yamamoto grinned, snapping out of his thoughts. "The drinks were good though."

"I can see that. You're a little red, you know?"

"Ah, I am?" Yamamoto looked at himself in the mirror. "Wow, I feel fine though."

Kusakabe chuckled.

They arrived at the hotel. "Okay, we're here."

"Thanks." Yamamoto hoisted one of Hibari's arms over his shoulders as he half carried him out of the car.

"Here's the card key to his room," Kusakabe handed Yamamoto the card through the open window.

"Aren't you going to…"

"Nah, you want to take care of him right? Make sure he gets plenty of water."

"Huh?"

"Ah, and I have a meeting with Romario."

"Ah, okay then. Have fun!"

"I'll see you later," Kusakabe told him before rolling up the window and driving away to park the car, leaving Yamamoto looking awestruck after the retreating car.

"He… he knows?" he said out loud in wonder to himself.

.

"Okay! Next bar!" Lussuria declared, quite recovered from the tonfa to the jaw earlier. Irie and Lambo had already gone home shortly after the scene with Hibari, and the two remaining scientists now agreed wholeheartedly to the bar jumping.

"I wonder what other mixtures they have. The flavor of that one was particularly good," Spanner commented.

"No way!" Gokudera snapped as he left the building after a brief exchange with the bartender about the bill. "We're lucky you guys only broke a few cups!"

"Aw come on! It's still early!" Ryohei agreed. "Drink to the extreme, remember?"

"What? I never agreed to that!"

"I heard there's another good place down the street," Levi added thoughtfully.

"Then it's decided!" Ryohei agreed happily.

"Well you guys go then. I'm bringing Haru back," Hana told him, sighing.

"You're not coming?" Ryohei asked her, giving her an attempted puppy face.

"I'm tired," Hana told him disapprovingly. His face fell, and she sighed again. "It's a guy's thing right? Have some fun with them without worrying about me. Besides, Haru's drank too much." The other girl was giggling while attempting to stand up straight, supported by Hana.

Ryohei's grin instantly returned. "Thanks." He managed to whisper a brief. "Love you!" before running after the others.

Hana smiled at her boyfriends retreating back.

"Sheesh if only I can get him to keep his voice down," Gokudera sighed.

"Sorry, mine," Hana told him before getting into the cab. "Make sure no one gets too hurt for me?"

"Easier said than done," Gokudera snorted before waving goodbye. He began walking towards the others when he noticed a card on the ground. 'Isn't that from our hotel? Sheesh, I guess there that are careless people everywhere.' He continued on his way after the others, not bothering about the hotel card.

.

"Ugh…" Hibari opened his eyes a bit, and his vision instantly began swimming in circles again.

"Here, drink some water." He felt a cup pressed softly against his lips and a hand gently lifting his head from the pillow. He drank slowly, regaining some of his dazed senses, and Hibari fell back onto the bed, groaning from the pounding headache.

"Yamamoto Takeshi?" he guessed, placing a hand over his eyes to shield them from the blaring light.

"Yeah?" the Rain Guardian answered a little too happily for him.

"What…"

"Uh… you drank too much. You're back in the hotel now," the Rain Guardian answered simply, deciding that details probably won't be the best thing to add if he wanted to leave the room in one piece.

"Oh." The Cloud Guardian closed his eyes, giving up on staying awake. "I'm going to sleep then. Wake me, and I'll bite you to death."

"Got it," Yamamoto chuckled. He stood up, satisfied that Hibari was fine at the moment, and reached into his pocket for his keycard back to his own room before realizing it wasn't there. 'Oops…'

"Uh… hey Hibari?" He received a grunt. "I think I might have dropped my room key. Can I just crash here for the night? I'll sleep on the sofa outside."

"Whatever," came the groggy response.

"Ah, thanks!"

Yamamoto began to leave the room, planning to sleep outside on the sofa, when an alcohol-induced idea struck him.

'Might as well… this doesn't happen that often,' he thought happily as he carefully picked up a chair and set it next to the sleeping skylark's bed.

Yamamoto watched the other sleep, careful to keep his own breathing to a minimum. He studied the other's black hair, messy as usual, against the pillow, the eyelashes, thinking of how it'd be like to help remove a stray strand caught in the eye, the lips, soft or rough he can't tell from this angle, and the chest, rising softly up and down. He remembered before, the blood that had covered the clothes, red and running life. Yamamoto stroked Hibari's hair gently, throwing caution to the wind. 'He's alive… he's right here…' He smiled. He remembered how, before Hibari decided to get the messy haircut, he had wanted to stroke those long strands.

"Time passes so fast, doesn't it?" Yamamoto whispered. The alcohol was impeding his judgment of whether or not to keep his thoughts silent. He smiled. "Just a year ago we'd barely even saw each other. You were almost never there back at the mansion." He chuckled. "I guess me playing baseball kind of added to it." His hand left the other and resettled on Hibari's hand. "I've missed you."

Yamamoto watched the other for another moment before sighing, trying to retain a smile. "I know it's probably never going to happen, but you know, I've never stopped hoping." The smile dropped just a little. "It kind of hurts." He thought for a moment before continuing. "You know, I guess I'm okay with this. As long you're here." He stood up slowly and leaned over, kissing the other softly on the forehead. "Goodnight then, Hibari. I love you."

.

Hibari waited until the door closed behind the retreating Rain Guardian before opening his eyes. He touched forehead lightly. 'A tear…' At that moment, another pain caught him right at the heart, and he touched it curiously before deciding to let sleep take him. He decided he wouldn't go drinking for a while again. "It'll go away in the morning," he thought as he drifted back into slumber.

* * *

Hello! Ah, updates are taking forever. My apologies! It's so hard to write these days; there's too much stuff and work to do. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Poor drunk people…

Thanks for reading! Until the next chapter XD!


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

Note: "Saifu" is the Japanese word for "wallet."

* * *

-Present-

Kusakabe opened the door to the committee room carefully, not wanting to attract too much attention upon entering. As he predicted, a growing mess of papers greeted him with the one who was supposed to have finished them ages ago sleeping on the couch, jacket over his head.

"Uh…" he went over the pros and cons of waking the Disciplinary Committee Head. He could get bitten to death, but on the other hand, the paperwork really needed attending to. "Kyou-san," he said cautiously.

"Hm?" Apparently Hibari was wide awake.

"If you are not in the mood, I can take care of the paperwork for now," he offered, speaking quickly lest Hibari decided to get annoyed or decide irrationally that Kusakabe was too demanding.

"Un," came the bored response, and Kusakabe nodded, starting to gather up the oldest set of documents. The sheer amount of work that had accumulated awed him to no end, and he wondered if he was going to be able to finish everything in time and if Hibari was going to go back to his old self anytime soon. He'd never admit it, but he really did prefer it if Hibari was violently normal instead of tranquil and "depressed." To be truthful, he had no idea how to define the state his boss was in now.

"Kusakabe."

The vice-president looked up, surprised that the other had called his name. "Yes?"

"I went to the doctor," he said simply.

"Oh, to get your heart checked out right?" He always found it strange that Hibari would go to the hospital for everyday illnesses and problems but would completely disregard his own wounds when in the process of going after prey. "What was the diagnosis?"

"There's nothing wrong." It came out as a statement, but Kusakabe knew the head prefect long enough to make out the smallest hint of confusion.

"Ah well, they say that if there's nothing wrong physically, then it must be something mental. Not to say that there's anything wrong with you," he added hastily.

"Mental…" Hibari pondered, moving his jacket off his face so he could breathe easier. He lightly touched the spot that was aching earlier. Strangely enough, whenever he thought about the pain itself, it would go away, but when he wasn't thinking, or rather, was dwelling on the question Yamamoto had asked him to think about, the pain came back. 'Did he even ask anything? What exactly did he want me to answer? Do I want him to stop crowding around me? Or…' He closed his eyes. All this thinking made his head hurt too. He didn't want to think about it and decided once again to let sleep distract him.

He heard Kusakabe leave the room quietly and the curtains of the window beat against the walls as a light breeze came into the room. He should've asked the vice-president to close the window earlier. Another noise made him jump up, tonfa ready in anticipation.

"Ciaossu," Reborn greeted him from the window sill.

"You…" Hibari smirked. This might be just the distraction he needed. "Fight me."

"Not today. I need to discipline Tsuna for letting things get out of hand," Reborn answered easily. He had seen what he came to see and turned to leave.

"Running away?" Hibari accused.

Reborn paused. "Isn't it you who is running away?" he said. It was not a question. He jumped off and disappeared into the school grounds below, leaving a bewildered skylark staring after him.

'Running… away?' He slumped onto the sofa, face in his hands. "Impossible," he muttered as he thought of Yamamoto and the desperate look the Rain Guardian had when he asked him to give a straight answer on what exactly he wanted. What did he want? Yamamoto knew well enough what he wanted, but what did Hibari want? Hibari sighed, lying down again, deciding that a nap might help clear his head. The pain increased.

-Future-

"Dino! Where have you been?" Gokudera exclaimed, forgetting to keep his voice down as the leader of the Chiavorone entered their third bar, almost tripping over a nearby chair on the way to the bar.

"Uh… well I got lost and by the time I got there, you guys were already gone," Dino said awkwardly, noticing the state of the others in the group. "Hey! Kyoya and Yamamoto aren't here! That means I'm not the only one late!" he concluded happily.

"They left already," Gokudera sighed.

"Oh!" Dino laughed. "Kyoya got knocked out that fast?"

"Almost demolished the first bar: the most expensive one," Gokudera muttered under his breath before finishing off his mug. "Hey! Two!" he motioned to the nearest barkeeper, who nodded.

"Aw darn, I can't believe I missed that. The girls also left, right?" His mug of beer arrived. "That means we can drink as much as we want!"

"I'm winning!" they heard Ryohei shout.

"I'm growing increasingly worried," Gokudera sighed.

Dino laughed. "What's a little fun without risk?"

"Why is only my wallet at risk then?"

.

The two were finally settled in the private room; the restaurant was quite popular and even with a reservation, Kyoko found herself preoccupying Xanxus for a good half hour before the waiter called them inside. She really appreciated her date's tameness tonight. Not only had the leader of the Varia not exploded at the restaurant for making them wait, he had even agreed to wear a suit she picked out for him since said restaurant required formal attire.

"Their special looks pretty good. It even comes with several different cocktails," Kyoko pondered as she flipped through the menu. "Hm, it's a little more expensive than I'd thought it'll be. Maybe…"

"Would you like to order?" the waiter asked the two, entering the room.

"Ah…" began Kyoko, trying to look for something not quite as costly.

"Two specials," Xanxus told him curtly.

"Of course." The young man zipped out of the room quickly, giving Xanxus a last backward glance. Yes, the customer was dressed properly but the prominent scars that he saw under the hair made him just a little nervous. 'Mafia?' he thought wildly before dismissing the notion. 'Probably just an accident.'

Kyoko chuckled. "That was quick."

"What?"

"Nothing."

They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the calmness of the dim candlelit room. Xanxus surveyed the girl carefully, looking for any signs of annoyance. If the restaurant gave her any trouble, he'd…

"The suit looks pretty good on you," Kyoko's voice broke his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah… You look nice too," he replied awkwardly. He had admitted a while back to himself that words were not his forte. He scratched at his neck unconsciously, uncomfortable with the lack of the usual set of feathers that brushed against it. His fingers rubbed over one of the burn scars, usually covered by his hair these days, and he realized they were exposed. He tried to move some of his bangs to cover the scar when Kyoko lightly grabbed his hand, stopping him.

"Don't they scare you?" he asked her.

"Why would they?" She shook her head, letting go of his hand and lightly touching the burns on his face. "There's so many… Do they hurt?"

He took her hand gently and moved it to his lips, away from the cursed scars, kissing her fingers. "Why would they?" he returned.

She smiled, blushing slightly. He let go when the door suddenly opened with their drinks. Again the waiter left as quickly as he had come, and again, the room returned to silence. Kyoko took a small sip, enjoying the blend of sweet with the usual alcohol undertone.

"You know, when I first found out about Vongola, I thought that it was the worst thing that could have happened. I mean, it's not every day that your life is in danger." She looked out the window, thinking. "It's not every day that you lose a friend."

Xanxus twitched just slightly, knowing that she meant Tsuna.

"But…" she continued. "I guess I'm glad that it turned out like this. I'd rather know that he was killed than be told that he moved away or something silly like that." She sighed. "Sometimes you have to experience the ugly things in life in order to enjoy what's in front of you." She turned to him, smiling a little sadly. "Right?"

"You don't have put your life in danger for Vongola," he told her. He didn't particularly enjoy that smile of hers, a feeble attempt to look positive while hiding a great deal of sadness underneath. It made him uncomfortable, to say the least.

She closed her eyes. "But I want to."

He flinched at her declaration.

"I don't want to be kept in the dark like before."

"You might be kidnapped again," he warned her.

"And you'll save me, right?" she asked him, looking directly into his red eyes. Xanxus had forgotten how powerful eye contact could be; he was so used to everyone always looking away. The effect was mesmerizing, and he felt powerless against this strange girl who was so unafraid of him, ever since the first time they met. He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Yes. I will," he promised her.

The food arrived and the two ate in comfortable silence. The questions that had been bothering the both of them were satisfied for the time being, and the food was good.

"It's nice; having peaceful times like this every now and then," Kyoko commented, chuckling.

At that moment, a yell from outside made the two of them look out the window to see most of the Varia and Guardians chasing Lussuria across the pavement, screaming about something that ran along the lines of "saifu" or "knife". They couldn't quite tell. Xanxus decided that he'd have a little "word" with them back at the hotel, but put that thought at the back of his mind for the time being. After all, like Kyoko said, peace was only fleeting and should be enjoyed when it still is. He returned to their dinner.

.

"How was the bar?" Fran asked when Lussuria came stumbling back into the Varia's floor's lobby.

"Exquisite!" the Sun Flame user said, melting into a sofa. "You should've come."

"Nah, I'd rather not join the others chasing you. Did you bring me back a bottle of the wine I asked?"

"Yeah! Right here!" Lussuria laughed, throwing it over.

Fran barely managed to catch the heavy thing. "Thanks. Well, Hiro-kun's sleeping now, so don't make too much ruckus."

"Where are you going?"

"To enjoy this by myself." The door closed behind him and just as quickly opened as Squalo barged into the room before Lussuria managed to follow Fran and attempt to offer his services with finishing the wine.

"Voi! There you are!" he yelled.

"Shh, our dear Hiro-kun is sleeping," Lussuria said in a sing-song voice.

"That's why you came to the hotel! Down to the first floor right now! We'll settle this!"

"No can do," Lussuria grinned. It wasn't until Xanxus entered the room that he knew he was in for a bit of pain.

.

Hibari woke up slowly, and the world spun around him. Once again, he mentally told himself never to go drinking with the other herbivores again. After a few seconds, he realized that he was back in his own bed at the hotel and tried in vain to remember how he had gotten there.

The skylark frowned. He didn't remember walking, so that only meant… Hibari scanned the room for another person, finding no one. Someone had removed his shoes, coat, and tie, and a half-filled glass of water rested on the nightstand. 'Yamamoto,' he recalled fuzzily.

He didn't bother with his coat and tie, only putting on his shoes before opening the door to the living room, finding a certain Rain Guardian snoring on the couch.

Suddenly another small portion of the prior night came back to him; he remembered someone talking to him, soft whispers, and then the aching in his chest came back, like something had its fist clenched tightly around his stomach.

'Food…' he thought as he walked over to the miniature kitchen, remembering that he hadn't eaten anything the night before. The ever so helpful Kusakabe had the foresight to fill the refrigerator with some bento before leaving last night for a drink with Romario after knowing for sure that he didn't have to drive Hibari around for the rest of the night. The skylark in question promptly removed one and began eating, the occasional sound of chewing accompanying Yamamoto's quiet breaths the only disturbances in the room.

'It's not going away,' he thought as he continued to eat, trying to recall what exactly happened that would make him feel so ill. 'Was it the alcohol?' However, even as he tried to pull his thoughts away from the subject, the whispers were becoming clearer, and he suddenly recalled something strange, followed by a softly muttered declaration, a little choked. He looked at the Rain Guardian, blinking. 'Impossible,' he concluded silently before noticing a little flinch from Yamamoto. He realized that the other's brow was furrowed, and an apparent frown had replaced the peaceful grin from earlier.

_He was running, chasing the silhouette of a bird that grew increasingly distant. He ran faster, undeterred, determined to catch up no matter what. It seemed like an endless battle against a foe that only grew faster the more he tried to catch up. Yet, he ran on, unwilling to give in. The darkness that surrounded them cracked and glass shattered around him, raining like snow._

_The shadow suddenly stopped, and he ran faster through the falling shards, seeing his chance._

_Yamamoto stopped, realizing why the other had halted. He saw red among the shards, leading onward, and he followed, dreading. The same scene from that day greeted him, the bullets, the blood, the crumbling wall of spikes and Cloud Flames around him and the one he loved most._

"_Catch a bird, and it'll die," a voice echoed in his head, his own voice, just as he was about to run to the motionless figure on the ground. The sentence stopped him in his tracks, and suddenly Tsuyoshi stood before him, blocking him from the other. _

"_The world is filled with death. You cannot escape it." Yamamoto gasped. It was his own voice again. His legs felt weak and he started falling into the earth, a hand outstretched in hope that another would grasp it._

"_Yamamoto…" a voice called to him. _

'_If only…' Yamamoto thought._

"_Yamamoto…" the voice repeated._

'_It's impossible, right?' he closed his eyes. 'It always has been impossible.'_

"Yamamoto!" The Rain Guardian opened his eyes to a world of light save for black hair and a pair of dark eyes staring into his.

"Good morning," he greeted the other, grinning as he tried to calm his breathing. He felt the sweat from the nightmare on his forehead, and sat up slowly, closing his eyes. "Sorry. I should've gone back to my room as soon as the front desk ope…"

"You were hyperventilating. It would be a problem if you flooded my suite like you did the mansion," Hibari interrupted him briskly before standing up and returning to his meal in the kitchen.

"Eating already?" Yamamoto chuckled.

"There's more in the refrigerator."

'Is this an invitation to eat?' Yamamoto hesitated accepting it, but felt eyes following his every move, on guard because of his earlier suddenly agitated sleep. "I'll just help myself then," he replied, reminding himself to keep a grin on his face as he took out another bento, sitting in front of Hibari. The two ate in silence, and Yamamoto found it increasingly difficult to keep a straight face.

"What did you dream about?" Hibari suddenly snapped the other out of his reverie.

"Uh…" How was he to explain this in any way that won't sound strange? "A bird," he replied simply. "And… my father was in it too."

Hibari stared at him for a second before replying, "Stop dwelling on the past."

He couldn't take it anymore. He knew he wasn't as strong as Hibari; he had people he cared about, would give his life up to protect. The person right in front of him, the one he cared about more than anything now that his father was gone, was telling him to forget, to become empty. "I'm not!" Yamamoto exploded. He was already becoming empty, giving up, and as he realized that, a sickening realization came to him of just why he had that dream. "That wasn't why…" he stopped, realizing that he was yelling.

Hibari recalled the whispered words from yesterday clearly now. He wouldn't go so far as to admit that he was scared to know, but the tiniest of voices at the back of his head urged him to keep on fighting with something that he unconsciously knew he was already starting to lose. He had avoided the question all this time, making little excuses for himself along the way, and now it was coming back to haunt him.

"Then why?" the skylark asked, eyes flashing. Yamamoto could swear, give or take a minute, that within a minute the other's tonfa would be out. After all, it was typical of Hibari to beat the answers out of his prey, to tear his enemies apart effortlessly with the swiftness of wind, to stand on the bodies of the fallen and claim victory, always somehow pulling through at the end. He didn't die when the bullets could've killed him, didn't falter in the face of the enemy despite their superior weapons, kept on fighting even though he was a snap of a strand away from death.

_Catch a bird, and it'll die._

Yamamoto shook the thought away from his head, mentally smiling in relief. 'I've forgotten… he's not weak.'

"Well?" Hibari demanded.

'He's never been weak.'

Yamamoto calmed down and stared into anticipating eyes, the same eyes he had fallen in love with so long ago since they were still in school, since they still wore their uniforms: Yamamoto with his messy tie-less shirt, and Hibari with the red and gold armband shining against his sleeve, since the days were peaceful, and he would play baseball without a care in the world. But, that was then, and now is now. The skylark was not running at the moment, and he was doing just fine. He wasn't one to suddenly fall down and die if caught. Yamamoto scoffed at his own stupidity for even considering such an absurd idea. What was there to lose? Nothing. Nothing at all. Well, maybe a bone or two depending on the skylark's reaction this time around, but that didn't matter anymore. He smiled. It's been a while since he smiled genuinely.

"Yamamoto…" Hibari began.

"I love you," he replied simply, his voice as calm as the first time. The skylark felt the walls around him cracking.

* * *

Hello! Ah, first there were midterms, then there were finals, then I got this killer writer's block… Life is so crazy XD! I'm sorry for the super lateness of this one. I'm going to try to finish… no, I WILL finish this before the end of summer!

So, random story, several days ago I finally felt inspired again, and when I went to take a look at the story since it's been a while, I realized that the site took out all my breaks (I replaced them with "…" and ".") T.T So sad… I liked my old dashes. And the current chapters of KHR! So much progression! For the sake of not messing up what I have so far, I'm going to continue to write this as if I've only read the manga up to around the time I started this fanfiction. Yay! It's like another universe (smile)!

Thank you for reading! XD I hoped you enjoyed this very late chapter!


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

To kikyokyoyahibari: Thanks for pointing that out! I wrote that part towards the end, but by then it was "Rain Guardian" so much that I didn't think about it haha XD. Then during editing, I was half asleep and went right though it! Anyways, it has been fixed! Thanks again!

* * *

-Future-

Yamamoto watched as the Cloud Guardian's eyes widened in a rare display of surprise and braced himself for the coming onslaught of metal by tensing, ready to spring back and away. Instead, Hibari leaned over the table and placed a hand on the other's forehead.

"Are you still drunk?"

Yamamoto almost started laughing at the ridiculous statement but painfully managed to subdue it to a chuckle within the millisecond. "What kind of question is that? A fever doesn't mean I'm drunk." He, however, noted curiously that Hibari's hand felt considerably hotter than his own temperature at the moment; the heat from the skylark's hand burned on his forehead.

"I was checking for both." Hibari moved away quickly, well aware of the quickening of his own heartbeat. He understood, yet he didn't understand. It was as if he had thrown a thin piece of fabric over a raging fire in an attempt to hide its flames from the outside world: a hopeless denial of the truth. However, before he could even begin to escape from the abyss he was falling into, Yamamoto had already grabbed his retreating hand.

"I'm serious, Hibari," the Rain Guardian said. The words came out softly, gently, and Hibari felt his heart skip, not knowing whether or not it was panic or something else. As much as one such as the Cloud Guardian would never admit, he opted for the first choice. Yamamoto had even made sure to make eye contact in an attempt to show that he was as serious as ever. "I meant it the first time I said it, and I mean it now."

Hibari, on the other hand, looked away. "What the hell? Don't act like an herbivore," he returned quickly.

Yamamoto knew he was treading on thin ice now, but the patient disposition he had kept up for so long was starting to shatter with the help of both time and the traces of alcohol that remained in his system from last night. The oncoming headache didn't help one bit. "Who's acting like an herbivore?" he asked calmly in almost a whisper. 'The tonfa's coming! The tonfa's coming!' the automatic defense mechanism inside his head yelled.

As predicted, Hibari wrenched his hand away, this time tonfa drawn and ready in a flash. "Say that again," he warned, pointing one at the other's throat.

'See? Just the way you imagined it. Are you happy now?' ran through Yamamoto's head as he realized that he had left his Box Weapons in his other jacket. He slowly moved to the other side of the sofa, using it as an obstacle between himself and the skylark as they continued their "argument".

"Is that all you think about: whether or not someone's an herbivore?" Yamamoto asked, still trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

"Only herbivores would play with this 'love' you talk about," Hibari hissed, whirling one of the tonfa in his hand expectantly.

Yamamoto felt his veins go cold. "You think this is a game?"

"What else is it?" Hibari returned, swinging at Yamamoto, who dodged nimbly and circled to the other side of the couch. "Like the 'baseball' you love so much. Isn't it the same?"

'Okay, calm down. You're still out of it because of the dream,' Yamamoto told himself, recalling the outburst he had earlier, but he was certain that he was both frustrated and a little angry at the moment. 'Maybe it's a hangover after all.'

"It's not…" the Rain Guardian tried to explain, partially to keep his mouth moving so his body wouldn't act on instinct instead.

"I thought you've stopped being an herbivore, Yamamoto Takeshi." The action was instantaneous; Yamamoto nimbly jumped on and leapt off the sofa, grabbing both of Hibari's wrists before the tonfas could strike him, and used his body weight to slam the Cloud Guardian on the wall. Before the skylark could retaliate, he felt soft lips on his in contrast to the growing pain on his back from the impact.

The kiss was gentle and yet overpowering at the same time; Hibari's mind went blank for a second before he was able to process what exactly was occurring. By the time the skylark had regained enough of his senses to attempt resisting, Yamamoto had already pulled away.

"Do I look like an herbivore to you?" the Rain Guardian asked quietly. When Hibari didn't answer, he sighed, massaging his temple. In addition to the headache, the weight on his heart had grown to an almost unbearable ache, and he knew by now that he wasn't thinking clearly. "Sorry about that," he muttered, turning to leave. 'I need some time to calm down… This isn't how it should've turned out. Why did I…' he tried to think of something else to drown out the thoughts but failed miserably. 'What a mess.' He was tired, so tired. By the time Hibari managed to blink, the door had already closed behind the Rain Guardian, leaving the skylark by himself in the suite.

Hibari slid to the floor, hand on his forehead in frustration, tonfa lying abandoned beside him. The pain in this chest from before had gone up to his throat, almost choking. He took a deep breath, trying to relieve all the emotions that were threatening to devour him, but they didn't diminish in the least. He remembered the time in the hospital room, the conversation at the Foundation, the bullet taken at warehouse. 'How could I have…' The kiss lingered on his lips like a curse and everything shattered into a million tiny pieces. The fire had burned through the fabric, and the abyss had devoured him entirely. Yamamoto's expression as he announced that he was going leave, eyes averting, exhaustion and desperation lining his face lingered clearly in the skylark's mind. Hibari knew now; he'd known since that day back inside that Japanese-styled room in Italy. He saw something glittered on the ground and picked it up: a preserved sakura petal attached to a chain.

"What the hell…" he laughed bitterly.

"_Who's acting like an herbivore?"_

.

"Come in!" Fran said after someone knocked lightly on the door to the Varia lobby. Kyoko entered the room, shielding her eyes slightly from the sudden sun shining in from the open curtains.

"Good morning," the girl said as she walked over. "How's Hiro-kun?"

"On his way back to Italy," the illusionist answered, surprising the other.

"What? Why?" Kyoko asked, worry lining her voice. She didn't know much about the mafia, but she did know that, aside from Gokudera and the "Guardians", the Varia was the best protection Vongola could offer to the child.

"Orders," Fran replied calmly.

Kyoko bit her lip, knowing that even if she asked, Fran would most likely not tell her. "Whose?"

The Mist Flame user sighed. "It'll all be clear soon. At least, I hope. I don't know how much longer they intend to wait."

"They?"

"You'll find out when the time is right."

Kyoko sighed, knowing for sure now that any more questions would not give her any answers. "He'll be safe though, right?"

Fran smiled. "Definitely."

.

Hibari threw open the door to the lobby, having descended the stairs all the way down from Yamamoto's floor. He had already checked the Rain Guardian's room and the hotel lobby but failed to find him.

"Where is Yamamoto Takeshi?" he asked Gokudera when he spotted the Storm Guardian exiting the elevator, yawning.

"Eh? What's up?" Gokudera asked sleepily. He decided not to press any further after receiving a glare from the other. "I think he went to visit his father today. He did mention something like that before we came to back Japan."

"Hm…" The skylark flew off and disappeared outside the hotel's automated glass doors as Gokudera stared after him, frowning.

'I wonder what happened to those two last night…' He shrugged off the thought and continued to make his way to the hotel restaurant for some breakfast and hopefully something to cure his headache from the night of drinking. Unfortunately for him, the rest of the idiots were already occupying the restaurant.

"Where is your leader? I shall fight him to the extreme!" Ryohei declared to the Varia, who didn't look too awake at the moment either. Lussuria, for one, sported quite a few bruises that he hadn't been able to heal the night before after running out of Sun Flames while Squalo was busy fuming in the corner for getting smacked around by Xanxus in the ensuing chaos.

"Maybe you should wait a bit," Lussuria said nervously. "Like until I get out of the building."

"Good morning!" Kyoko, Hana, and Haru entered the room, looking particularly better rested than any of the guys.

"Kyoko! You're okay!" Ryohei exclaimed, hugging his sister.

Kyoko chuckled, giving a hug back. "Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Uh… because…"

"Because you didn't come drinking with us last night," Hana interrupted, knowing he was going to say something bad about Xanxus.

"Oh, I was with Xanxus," Kyoko answered.

'Ah, she admitted it,' Hana thought, hoping that her boyfriend won't explode now that he had finally heard it from his own sister.

"Re… really?" Ryohei asked. They could tell he was trying very hard to keep a straight face for his sister.

"Yes, we went to one of the restaurants in town. Their menu was quite good, so we should all go sometime," Kyoko told him, smiling, trying to keep the situation under control.

Hana tried not to laugh as she watched the conflicted expressions on Ryohei's face as he fought between telling Kyoko to stay away from Xanxus and saying it was okay. 'Kyoko's got him now.'

"Oh, well… I guess, since you're okay…" he muttered.

"I'm glad you understand," she answered, still smiling.

At that moment, Xanxus entered the room and all their efforts flew down the drain when Ryohei exclaimed, "I'll never give you my little sister to the extreme!" The room fell silent as Xanxus observed the overreacting Sun Guardian and considered his options slowly. Beating up Ryohei would only make Kyoko upset, but at the rate this is going, he'd definitely end up in a brawl with the other. He saw Kyoko with a hand on her brother's arm, trying to drag him away, and a tinge of jealousy ran through the leader of the Varia.

"Give it a rest already!" Hana suddenly yelled and whacked Ryohei on the head, knocking him out. Everyone looked on in surprise. "A woman must always be able to control her man!" she declared, fired up, before dragging the unconscious Sun Guardian away. The room felt even quieter then before, complete with mouths opened so wide, their jaws could be on the floor if they weren't connected to the skull.

"Did someone just shoot her with the Dying Will Bullet or something?" Giannini asked after a short moment.

"She drank the whole bottle of wine we brought back this morning! Looks like it takes a while for the alcohol to show for Hana-chan," Haru told him, laughing.

"Ah Haru-chan, maybe it's better not to say anything more," Kyoko whispered to her, stopping her from continuing to explain that Hana was a "little" annoyed that Ryohei had spent the night drinking instead of taking her out to dinner.

Xanxus caught Kyoko's eyes and she nodded, smiling. "We'll I see you guys later then!" The two left to eat breakfast elsewhere without the din of the others.

"Let's go tail them!" Haru said, eyes lighting up mischievously as soon as the door closed behind the two.

"Do not disturb the lovebirds!" Lussuria warned them. "Or else…" he lamented.

.

"Thanks!" he kept up his grin for this much of the trip.

Yamamoto sighed as he climbed out of the taxi after paying the driver. 'What am I supposed to do now?' Nevertheless, now was not the time to think about such things, although he did acknowledge that this was partly a distraction from the current situation with Hibari.

The hill was a little windy today, and Yamamoto hugged his coat tighter to avoid the chill while the bouquet of flowers he had brought swayed slightly on the stone. "Hey Dad… How is it over there?" he asked, smiling. "The weather's pretty cold today." He paused before continuing, "There was a bit of a fight with another Family, but we all got through it okay. They made some new Bullet that could absorb our Flames." He chuckled. "Can you believe it? I got hit by one, and my Flames somehow destroyed it!" He flinched slightly, remember how painful that had been, and sighed. "Yup… so that's what's been happening lately." Yamamoto fell silent for a few minutes as he continued to stare aimlessly at his father's grave, searching for something else to tell his old man. Hibari was definitely not an option.

He suddenly grinned at a new thought, "Oh, I was thinking of maybe rebuilding the sushi restaurant. I'll make it bigger than it ever was. So big, we can put a secret base there!"

He looked at the slightly cloudy sky, sighing yet again. "Yup… everything's okay… I was able to protect the people who were important to me this time, so… so…" His vision blurred slightly, and he rubbed his eyes hastily. "Ah, sorry, dust. Your grave is dusty. I'll clean it next time…" He immediately regretted saying that. The guilt, the pain, the failure, everything returned. His father's grave served as a permanent reminder of just how powerless he was.

" Ah… sorry…" he apologized again, trying in vain to wipe the tears on his sleeve. He chuckled, "I've been crying a lot this past year. Maybe I'll water the plants around here for you?" he joked, trying to keep his composure. 'What does it matter? I wasn't able to protect you,' the traitorous voice spoke inside his head. He tried to throw the thought aside, but others kept on pouring in, and soon he found himself drowning in them.

"_Do I look like an herbivore to you?"_

"Who am I kidding?" The tears fell freely. "Shit…"

.

Hibari approached his target like a shadow, moving silently up the hill. The wind seemed to get even more agitated as it blew around him. By the time he had reached the Rain Guardian, the other was staring emptily at his father's grave, eyes a little red. He could spot bags underneath those red eyes; had he not been sleeping well the past few days? Hibari remembered the incident with the flooding and bit his lip.

Yamamoto finally noticed him, turning around. "Hibari? Why are you here?" he gasped, his voice a little hoarse.

"Visiting." He laid the flowers he had on the grave slowly before standing up, facing Yamamoto almost painfully, determined to conquer and not let himself fall any longer.

The sight of Hibari didn't do him any favors as Yamamoto felt the traitorous tears threaten come back. "I…" he began, but found that he had nothing to say.

Unable to contain his overflowing emotions, he muttered, "Sorry," and hugged Hibari before the other could say anything. "I know I'm an herbivore," he whispered.

Hibari felt the warm breath over his shoulder, the tight embrace the other had him in as if his life depended on it. The feeling returned, as if Yamamoto's sorrow was contagious, and his heart was suddenly in his throat again, threatening to explode. 'How do you heal something like this?' he grimaced. He heard the other sobbing quietly. The Rain Guardian, who had had already saved him several times, going so far even as to put his own life on his line, who had single-handedly wiped out an entire gang because the one he loved had almost been killed, who had, back at the hotel, nearly overpowered him, the strongest of the Vongola Guardians, was seeking comfort from him, the most emotionless, he admit it himself, of all the people he could have gone to.

It hit him. 'Oh… I see…' To Yamamoto's surprise, arms suddenly wrapped around him and pulled him closer, almost as if Hibari was competing with him on who could hug the other tighter.

"Stupid. You know well enough we're both not herbivores," Hibari said softly. "Didn't you say it yourself?" At that moment, Yamamoto wanted to pull away to see the expression on the other's face, even if it meant letting the Cloud Guardian see his tear-streaked face, but Hibari refused to let the other go until the warmth from soft blush that had lit up his own face started to ebb away. The Rain Guardian gave in and stayed where he was, breathing in the other's scent as he listened to their heartbeats calm down.

The skylark felt as if he had finally been released into the open sky and took a deep breath of fresh air, basking in the light rain.

-Present-

"Ah, so…" Yamamoto began awkwardly in an attempt to break the silence.

"I don't understand," Hibari replied, the frustration almost blatant in his face. Yamamoto bit his lip, knowing he had caused this.

"What don't you understand?"

"Your question."

"Huh? I just wanted to know if you, you know, wanted me to stop bugging you…" he trailed off.

"The other question," Hibari hissed.

Now Yamamoto was genuinely confused. "The other?" It suddenly slipped back into his mind, the time when he asked if Hibari wanted to go out. He had already deemed it impossible deep inside sometime ago, so now that the other had brought it up, it made him even more nervous. "Oh…"

.

"Ah, Lambo, don't disturb them!" Tsuna whispered as he failed to grab the child. Lambo ran onto the rooftop, energetic as usual, with the Vongola Tenth chasing after him.

"Lambo wants to play on the rooftop too!" the cow declared, much to the dismay of Tsuna, who looked at the other two guardians apologetically.

Hibari surveyed the situation irritably, noting that he wasn't going to get anything finished with Tsunayoshi and Lambo here, not to mention that Reborn was also probably close by watching. "Tch." He turned to leave.

"Wait, Hibari!" Yamamoto called after him.

"You're an idiot," Reborn said, suddenly appearing on Tsuna's shoulder, causing his student to fall backward in surprise. The future boss of Vongola braced himself for the oncoming punishment but to his surprise, the Arcobaleno jumped off and instead whacked Lambo with a Leon slipper, and Tsuna realized that the comment was meant for the Thunder Guardian. However, he couldn't fathom what could have possibly gotten Reborn so mad, unless it was because Yamamoto and Hibari seemed to finally be going somewhere before Lambo interrupted them.

'Oh so even Reborn could get annoyed at this sort of thing…' He might have laughed if Lambo hadn't looked like he was about to whip out the bazooka again.

"Tolerate…" Lambo squeaked as a tear lined the corner of his eye.

"Wait, Lambo, no!" Tsuna yelled as the crying cow aimed the bazooka once again at Yamamoto.

The Rain Guardian felt himself being thrown to the ground as the rooftop exploded in smoke.

* * *

Kono komento wa nihonogo de kaitemitai (I want to try to write this comment in Japanese.). Ah nevermind haha XD. This chapter was actually quite hard to write. I thought and thought and thought and… thought some more and I all got were blurs. I hope you still enjoyed it though (smile). Hm I wish would let me use happy faces and stuff; it's how I express my joy XD.

Ah, I have realized that I've made Yamamoto an angry drunk (he did drink a little before going after that gang towards the beginning), Hibari a sleepy drunk, and Hana a crazy (jealous?) drunk XD.

Anyways, thanks for reading! (happy face)


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

-Present-

Yamamoto slowly opened his eyes, surprised that he was still on the rooftop with everyone else, judging from the cries of a certain cow. He had seen a flash of red and black right before the smoke came, so that must have been…

"Hi… Hibari?" he called out nervously to the smoke. 'Ha… yeah right… he's dead, remember?' He had to remind himself. He was scared to look but kept his eyes open nonetheless for the Cloud Guardian he didn't expect to see.

The smoke cleared, revealing the older Hibari, complete with a rather annoyed glare directed towards Tsuna and Lambo. "What is the meaning of this? I'll bite you all to death!"

"Ah! I'm sorry! Lambo, he…" Tsuna began, but Reborn whacked him with the Leon slipper before dragging both the Vongola Decimo and the Thunder Guardian off the roof, giving Hibari a last nod before disappearing down the stairs. The skylark's expression didn't change from before, effectively hiding his confusion.

"You're alive…" a voice brought the Cloud Guardian's attention back to his current location.

"And why wouldn't I be?" Hibari returned. He recalled that this younger Yamamoto was the one he shielded the bullets from that day at the warehouse, but that was no excuse for acting like such a…

"I… I saw you die…" Yamamoto continued, apparently still in shock that the older Hibari was talking to him now, looking alive and well.

"Well I'm obviously not dead, so stop being…" He noticed that the other was shaking ever so slightly. 'Did it affect him that much to see me 'die'?' He considered reprimanding the younger Yamamoto for being an herbivore but decided against it. Hibari didn't quite feel like using that word anymore today. He sighed. "You… The bullets were mostly nonfatal." He didn't want to mention that the older Yamamoto had saved him; it seemed like such an herbivore-like statement.

Yamamoto blinked, surprised for a second as he took the words in. He then chuckled in relief, "Thank goodness."

'Simpleton…' instinctively ran through Hibari's mind, but he wasn't about to say that just yet.

"Um… yeah…." The Rain Guardian scratched his head awkwardly. "Sorry if we interrupted anything."

'Actually you did…' the skylark thought, but again, he wasn't going to say it out loud.

"I was talking to you… I mean the 'you' from this time, and Lambo came with his bazooka, like usual," Yamamoto continued, trying desperately to keep the conversation going.

"About what?" Hibari figured that he might as well collect some information to pass the rest of the five minutes since he was already here. He didn't quite feel like fighting at the moment, which surprised him. The skylark decided he was just tired and was very much in need of a nap.

"Ah… nothing important," Yamamoto chuckled nervously.

The other's weak attempt at dodging the question annoyed Hibari to no end. "What would be this unimportant thing that we were discussing, Yamamoto Takeshi?"

Yamamoto bit his lip, knowing that he was about to be bitten to death if he didn't produce a believable answer. "Uh… about whether I was bothering you or not…"

'What the hell?' Hibari felt a little of the familiar killing intent flowing back into his veins as he tried to restrain himself from hitting Yamamoto for being an idiot.

"Um… so anyway, I'm glad you're okay," Yamamoto grinned, trying to change the subject.

Hibari shrugged, deciding it wasn't worth his time, checking his watch. "It's almost five minutes; try not to get hit by the bazooka again, or I'll bite you to death next time."

"Huh? How did you know it was aimed at me?" the Rain Guardian looked at him with surprised eyes.

Hibari looked at him, this time forgetting to hide the confusion on his face. He was honestly thinking of the last time Yamamoto was hit, but didn't expect things to also progress this way in the past. Now that he knew his younger self had probably jumped in front of Yamamoto the same way he had in that warehouse, it seemed inevitable, and that actually perked his interest.

"What…" However, it was too late as his surroundings once again exploded in smoke.

-Future-

The younger Hibari blinked, trying to see through the smoke that had exploded all around him. He had only been hit by the bazooka once before and had even slept soundly through it until he arrived in the future, so he wasn't too surprised that the transition this time hadn't hurt much. However, like last time, he didn't quite like the scene that he saw when the smoke cleared.

'Graveyard…' He spotted Yamamoto a little too close to him, looking more or less a mess with his swollen eyes and tired disposition. Also, he had been sure that a split second ago there had a little too much warmth around him compared to normal but dismissed that as a fault of the time travelling.

"Hey, it's been a while," Yamamoto greeted the younger Cloud Guardian with an awkward grin. 'I hope he didn't realize…' Hibari suddenly swung at the Rain Guardian mercilessly. 'Oh crap.'

The Cloud Guardian swung again, treating it like an all out battle. He had already had enough trouble with the younger Yamamoto and wasn't pleased at all to see the older one in the same sorry state. Not only had the older baseball idiot probably cried like an herbivore over his death, now he's acting like nothing's happened by hiding it under his usual stupid grin.

Yamamoto barely managed to dodge in time, exclaiming, "Wait, what did I do?" although he was already half betting on the wrong reason of Hibari realizing that the Rain Guardian was hugging him upon entering the future..

"Stop being such an herbivore," the Cloud Guardian hissed.

'How many times I have heard that word today?' Yamamoto thought, both amused and a little confused, as he dodged another attack. He had once again forgotten his Box Weapons at the hotel, having left in a hurry earlier, and considered himself lucky that the younger Hibari wasn't as quick as his future self. However, that didn't mean that he'd get off unscarred if he did get hit. 'Here we go again…'

"Why," he dodged, "am I," he dodged again, "an herbivore?" No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure out why the younger Hibari would call him an herbivore. 'Is hugging considered an herbivore act? That might be it,' he concluded. Yamamoto accidentally tripped over a gravestone and fell backwards, the skylark looming above him, moving in for the kill. However, to his surprise, Hibari lowered his tonfa.

"Isn't it enough that you had to lose your mind in the past?" the skylark asked quietly.

"I… I did?" Yamamoto frowned. He hadn't realized that his past self was the one who had to see Hibari get gunned down. Yamamoto had signal-handedly murdered an entire gang because he had seen the result of what they did, and he wondered what he would have done if he had witnessed the actual shooting. He bit his lip, starting to get a little worried. "What did I do?"

Hibari looked away, turning a little red. "What am I supposed to say to a question like that?"

"Eh? What did I ask?" Yamamoto thought it was a fairly reasonable question, unless… He decided to take that wild guess. "Do you love me?" Simple and clear.

Hibari stared at him, eyes wide with surprise. It suddenly became clear to him why he had mulled over the question for so long, why he was so confused; he had been incapable of putting it into words. However, after recovering from the initial shock, he realized that it didn't quite make sense for the older Yamamoto to even come up with such a question. "How can someone who's dead love you back?" he finally countered.

The Rain Guardian blinked. "Huh? Wait, you thought you were dead?" It was Yamamoto's turn to be surprised, and he burst out laughing at the realization only to receive a whack across the face by a tonfa. "Ow!"

"Why else are would we be in a graveyard?" Hibari hissed, obviously angry at being laughed at.

"Wait wait, if you were dead, then you'd be inside the coffin, right?" Yamamoto tried to reason with him while rubbing the definitely bruise forming on his face. "Remember Tsuna? When he came here, he was in the coffin! Oh wait, you came later…"

Hibari stared at him. "I'm… not dead?"

"Nope," Yamamoto chuckled. "You're very much alive."

Hibari considered this for a moment. "Then why are your eyes red?"

"Ah… because…" the Rain Guardian really didn't feeling like telling the other anything at the moment.

Hibari pressed a tonfa at the other's throat. "What, Yamamoto Takeshi?"

"Um… well you see…" the Rain Guardian chuckled awkwardly. "Time's up!" A pop accompanied by a blast of smoke marked the return of the older Hibari.

"Wow, you're heavy," Yamamoto joked when the weight on him suddenly increased and almost received another blow to the face. He closed his eyes shut right before the tonfa hit him only to find the anticipated metal replaced by fingertips ghosting over the bruise. "Ow ow, that hurts," he whined.

"Herbivore," Hibari accused, finally giving into the urge to use that word as he got off the Rain Guardian, who struggled to his feet quickly and followed the other out of the graveyard.

.

On the way back to the hotel in Kusakabe's car, Yamamoto found himself fighting with his brain to stay awake, not received any help from Hibari, who was looking out the window, apparently deep in thought. However, as much as he wanted to talk to the skylark now that the other had finally responded to his confession, the Rain Guardian's now obviously swollen eyes didn't help a bit as he struggled to keep them open.

"Ah sorry, I'm going to take a nap," he finally announced.

"No problem. I'll wake you up when we get there," Kusakabe told him from the driver's seat.

"Thanks," Yamamoto said as he contently closed his eyes. Hibari absentmindedly stole a glance at the Rain Guardian out the corner of his eye, wondering if the other could really fall asleep so fast. A sudden weight on his shoulder, Yamamoto's head, answered for him.

"Yamamoto Takeshi," Hibari muttered threateningly, but the other didn't budge, and instead a light snore was all he heard. He seriously considered opening the car door and flinging the Rain Guardian out. Then again, if he only used his tonfa, then they didn't have to turn around to pick him up if Gokudera threw a tantrum back at the hotel. Instead he poked the bruise with his finger again, earning a flinch from the other, before using his whole hand and managed to move the Rain Guardian off of him with Yamamoto now sleeping against the car door window. However, even in such position, Yamamoto continued sleeping, and Hibari found it just a little hard to not whack the other awake for looking so vulnerable. Deciding that it just wasn't worth his time, the skylark sighed and closed his eyes. He'd bite the other to death later after they had both fully rested.

He thought of the younger Yamamoto for a bit. The two of them had obviously not been in any dire situations at that age, and from what he'd seen, the younger Rain Guardian was definitely acting like an herbivore. Why in the world would his younger self even consider… he decided to leave the question for later, giving in to the comfortable environment of the car: Kusakabe's safe driving and the sleeping idiot next to him.

.

"What the hell are you not telling me?" Gokudera yelled while having the Sun Flame user of the Varia up against the wall by his collar.

"Hey! I'm just as confused as you are! I would never do anything to our dear Hiro-kun," Lussuria insisted, prompting the Storm Guardian to drop him.

"I don't believe this. How did he just disappear?" Gokudera looked in the empty cradle again, trying to think rationally and not panic at the same time. At that moment, the door opened, revealing Xanxus and Kyoko. "You…" Gokudera turned his frustrations on the leader of the Varia.

"What's wrong?" Kyoko asked, sensing that something was wrong. 'Did Fran not tell them?'

"If Hiro were to suddenly go missing, wouldn't that be awfully convenient for you? Now no one would be in your way now," Gokudera accused him quietly as the rest of them fell silent. Kyoko felt Xanxus tense next to her.

"Hiro is missing?" a new voice added to the oncoming storm. "We must find him to the extreme!" Ryohei announced as he charged into the room. He saw Xanxus and Gokudera throwing death glances at each other, and got into his boxing stance, Sun Flames flaring up. "It was you after all… How could you do this to my sister?"

"Wait, Brother!" Kyoko began, jumping in between them. "This is a misunderstanding!"

"Move aside, Kyoko," Ryohei warned her. "That creep's been using you!"

"Don't you dare…" Kyoko began, but at that moment, a gunshot rang through the room, the bullet narrowly missing Ryohei and colliding with one of the tables. The piece of furniture gave a shudder and then collapsed into rust.

The Sun Guardian jumped back unsteadily, having suddenly lost a portion of his Sun Flames, while Gokudera and the others looked towards the door, ready to dodge. Kyoko found herself behind Xanxus, who had moved between her and the door the split second the bullet had been heard from that direction.

"I'd suggest you don't move," the newcomer said, fingering his gun. "Now who is this 'Hiro' I keep on hearing you guys argue about? He must be pretty important to Vongola."

"Why do you have that bullet?" Gokudera gasped, tensing, ready to counterattack at any moment.

The man laughed. "Why? Because I'm the last of the Fuoco. You guys did a number on my Famiglia, but really, I'm not too upset over it." He patted his pocket. "I have the last of the bullets here, and once I find out who this 'Hiro' is, it's simple enough for me to climb up the ladder of any Famiglia I wish." He pointed the gun at Xanxus. "You seem to be behind all of this. Now, who exactly is this boy you all seem to be missing? He was present in that little group we kidnapped earlier."

"Dead," Xanxus answered. The Fuoco assassin could feel the red eyes boring into his and shuddered, but he took care not to let his gun arm shake. He had seen on the cameras what this man had done to his Famiglia and was not about to die the same way himself.

"You…" Gokudera gasped, looking at Xanxus.

The assassin sighed. "What a shame. Well no matter, I'll just kill you all now and be done with it." His finger tensed on the trigger. "Bye bye." He gasped as his hand seemed to go limp; he saw the Rain Flames lining it, and the gun fell to the floor, unused. Everyone watched on in surprise as a ball of spikes suddenly came from the outside corridor, collided with the assassin, and continued on until it was out of sight. They heard a loud crash signaling the impact with the wall at the other end of the corridor.

"Hey! Be careful where you're aiming!" they heard Fran yell from other end of the corridor, which probably now sported some blood and a sizable hole.

"Ah, sorry!" Yamamoto said as he appeared in the doorway.

"Wait… wasn't that Hibari's…" Gokudera began but gasped in surprise when Yamamoto suddenly fell, only to be caught on one arm by none other than the Cloud Guardian.

"Ah… sorry… I really need to sleep…" Yamamoto chuckled. Frankly, he was surprised at how much effort he had to put into summoning his Rain Flames. He hadn't done so since being hit by the bullet, and now, seeing what had just happened, he figured he probably needed a long time before his Flame levels returned to normal.

On the other hand, unable to contain the urge any longer, Hibari finally whacked Yamamoto on the stomach for being an idiot, knocking the wind out of him. The others watched on in shock as the skylark then dragged the unconscious Rain Guardian away, and Fran, who was also looking to the where the two had disappeared, replaced the area the assassin had previously stood.

The Mist Flame user looked back at the ones inside the room. "Should I call room service to get rid of the body?"

Gokudera, having finally come back to his senses, looked towards the empty cradle, about to continue their argument from before.

"Oh, Hiro-kun has been sent Italy. Orders. He's safe now," Fran answered for him.

Gokudera sighed, biting his lip. He took one last look at the others before storming out the room, disappearing around the corner. Ryohei finally looked away from his sister and followed suit, the rest of the Varia following them with their eyes.

"Um… Xanxus… I can't breathe…" a subdued voice broke the silence. Xanxus had thrown an arm around the girl earlier, pressing her into his jacket, saving her from seeing the man get impaled by Hibari's hedgehog.

.

Gokudera sighed, slumping into the sofa, taking a long drink from the bottle he had grabbed on the way to his floor's lobby.

"I heard Hibari made quite a mess upstairs," Dino said as he entered the room.

"That's not what I'm pissed off about," the Storm Guardian responded, irritated.

"Tsuna's brother, then?" the Sky Flame user asked, knowing he had hit the spot.

"Why am I never informed of anything regarding that kid? In case they've forgotten, I am almost running Vongola now. How am I supposed to do anything if I don't know anything?" Gokudera hissed, taking another gulp.

Dino took the bottle away from him. "Eh, you really shouldn't be drinking so much during the day."

"What does it matter?" Gokudera hissed but didn't attempt to take the alcohol back.

Dino sighed, knowing his trump card would only hurt the other. "What would Tsuna think?"

The Storm Guardian glared at him. "Don't you dare use that excuse."

"I'm serious. He's entrusted you with Vongola. You wouldn't want him to let him down now, would you?"

Gokudera sighed. "There's someone else out there giving orders, and I need to know who."

Dino shrugged. "I wouldn't look too deeply into it."

"So you'd just let them lead you around on a leash?" the Storm Guardian exclaimed.

"Well, apparently Fran and the rest of the Varia trusts this person, and they've been pretty tame lately, if you haven't noticed."

"Tch."

A knock on the door made Gokudera jump from his seat, having not quite recovered from the previous encounter with the assassin. He relaxed when one of the hotel staff came in. "You have a phone call, Gokudera-sama."

"Oh, okay. Just connect it to the phone in this room."

"As you wish."

Gokudera picked up the phone when the light started flashing, trying to ignore the alcohol in his system just in case it was really something important. At the moment, he highly doubted it. Another ring from Dino prompted the leader of the Chiavarone to leave the room to answer his cell phone, leaving a less than sober Gokudera alone with the phone call.

"Hello?"

"Hayato Gokudera of the Vongola Famiglia, am I correct?" a subdued, rather deep voice answered him.

That strange address sobered him up a little. "Yes? Who are you?"

"We will be holding a formal meeting of all invited Famiglia leaders in three days' time to discuss the future of our world. Should you wish to attend, please follow the rules that will be sent to you along with the location in precisely two hours."

"Who's hosting this?" He was completely sober now, sensing the approaching danger.

"The meeting will be regulated by guards hired with a combined donation of those who attend, so there is no need to worry about security," the man answered, avoiding his question.

'What the hell? This is obviously a trap. But if I don't go, then there's no way of finding out who…'

"Fine, I'll attend," Gokudera told him a little too brashly.

"Very well. We look forward to seeing you." He hung up.

At that moment, Dino came charging back into the room. "Did you?"

"Yeah I got the message too," Gokudera told him, grimacing. "I'll tell everyone to relocate to the Vongola manor base near Namimori."

"You accepted?" Dino gasped, earning a glare from the other.

"Didn't you?"

"Ah… yeah I did actually," Dino chuckled. "Ah whatever, we can do this! No problem!"

'A meeting now of all times? This might get ugly…' Gokudera shook his head as he left the room to gather the others. He believed that the dead assassin was really the last they'll see of Fuoco, but the timing of the phone call seemed a little more than just a coincidence.

* * *

Hello! Ah, I admit, I'm having trouble with Hibari's character. I didn't want to write him as a sadistic kind of lover, but it's really hard imagining times when he's not physically beating someone up haha! I was just going back and forth and back and forth, changing stuff. I hope the result isn't too bad…

Anyways, thanks for reading!


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

-Present-

"Hibari?" Yamamoto asked with a little uncertainty. He had no idea how this was going to turn out; the skylark had already been frustrated enough before he was hit with the bazooka. The smoke cleared, and he found the head of the Disciplinary Committee just standing there, tonfa at his side, looking away from Yamamoto. "Um…"

"I'm alive," Hibari finally answered him.

Yamamoto chuckled, relieved that the other wasn't going to start demanding a fight like usual, at least at the moment. "I know." He looked away a little awkwardly, scratching his head. "I guess I was worrying all this time for no reason."

That sentence seemed to have affected Hibari in some way, and Yamamoto immediately caught the change. "Then it's fine now; he's alive," the Cloud Guardian snapped before starting to walk away towards the stairs.

"Huh? Wait!" Yamamoto ran after him only to have Hibari walk faster. "Wait!" He caught the other's wrist, and Hibari stopped but refused to look at him. "What's wrong?" Yamamoto coaxed, trying to make Hibari turn to face him. Instead, the skylark looked the other way.

"He's alive! Aren't you happy now? It's done!" The words came out as even as ever, but Yamamoto caught the frustration that lined them.

"Huh?" Yamamoto repeated, still confused, before realizing that Hibari was referring to his future self as "him."

'Why is he frustrated?' The Rain Guardian had no idea what the other was thinking at the moment and couldn't fathom why the other had suddenly become upset after such a short trip to the future.

"Of course I'm happy that your future self is alive, but that doesn't finish anything! What's done?"

"Don't lie to me," Hibari hissed, pulling away. To Yamamoto's relief, the skylark was now looking at him, face flushed in anger, or at least he thought it was anger. "He saved you, and you thought he was dead, but now you know that he's alive."

Yamamoto still didn't get it. "And?" he asked, blinking.

"So I no longer have to answer your question," he finished.

'Oh!' It finally clicked in Yamamoto's head. "Wait, you're getting it all wrong, I don't like him!"

"You're the one getting it wrong. He's the one who saved you, not me," Hibari returned.

"Well, he's you and you're him, and ah, no I'm getting it wrong now! You're you and he's him, and," Yamamoto was starting to confuse himself.

"If you like him so much, you should get shot again. Don't involve me." Hibari turned quickly and started walking away again, only for Yamamoto to grab him from behind, pulling him into a hug.

They stood there for a few seconds, Hibari breathing heavily, trying to keep the pain in his chest from choking him. It was suffocating, like he was drowning. He recalled the illness with the sakura and closed his eyes. This was worse.

On the other hand, Yamamoto stayed as still as he could to let the other calm down as he tried to formulate a plan on how to clear things up. However, plans were never his forte, and he went with the flow, like usual.

"I like you," Yamamoto whispered into his ear.

Hibari opened his eyes back to the rooftop but kept them down so Yamamoto couldn't see the expression on his face. "No you don't," he finally managed, quietly.

Yamamoto only held him tighter, not letting him escape. "I'm serious."

The warm breath against his ear was sending shivers down his spine, and Hibari wanted to run. He cursed himself for becoming such an herbivore when it came to this strange human. He wondered if his future self had to go through this and recalled the older Yamamoto, eyes puffy and red. He bit his lips, still drowning.

"Hibari?" Yamamoto whispered again, his voice almost begging. The skylark made up his mind.

To the Rain Guardian's surprise, Hibari turned around, grabbed him by the collar and yanked him down before smashing their lips together. He pulled away just as quickly before Yamamoto had a chance to react, blushing up to his ears.

"That was…"

"My answer," Hibari said before running off, leaving the dumbstruck Rain Guardian alone on the rooftop. 'Why have I become such an herbivore?' he thought, but his feet would not stop.

-Future-

"Voi! I can't believe we have to move to that old mansion now! What kind of vacation is this?" Squalo's voice can be heard throughout the lobby. Despite complaining, he was one of the few who had already packed; the others included mostly the Varia.

Meanwhile, Hibari left his own room to go to Yamamoto's, leaving Kusakabe to pack his small amount of luggage. The skylark had dragged the Rain Guardian back to the other's suite earlier and left him there to rest after having smacked him unconscious shortly after disposing of the assassin. He now decided to walk over to knock the other into packing faster, which he was certain Yamamoto was not finished with.

He knocked on the door and tried the doorknob when he received no answer from inside, finding that the door was still unlocked. 'Idiot, making himself so defenseless.' He entered the suite and, seeing no one in the living room area, headed for the bedroom only to find Yamamoto still sleeping. He whipped out a tonfa in annoyance, ready to beat the other awake, when he noticed something that didn't seem quite right. 'Isn't this how I left him earlier?'

Earlier, Hibari had left the Rain Guardian's left foot dangling off the edge of the bed after finally pushing the sleeping giant onto his back, and he was certain now that the current scene looked exactly the same as before.

"Yamamoto Takeshi," he called the other's name a little uncertainly. However, the Rain Guardian continued to sleep on, not even twitching an eyebrow. Hibari tried again, this time a little louder, but to no avail. He nudged the other with a tonfa, but again didn't get a response, only calm breathing.

"Kyou-san, here you are," Kusakabe said as he entered. "I've loaded the luggage, is Yamamoto ready?" He spotted the sleeping Rain Guardian and chuckled. "I guess not."

"He's not waking up," Hibari muttered, and Kusakabe caught the hint of worry in the other's voice.

"Really?" Kusakabe walked over and shook the sleeping Guardian, receiving no response. "Hm… this could be a problem." He looked at his watch, knowing that worrying now won't do them any good, especially if the Cloud Guardian was the one worrying most. This was all new to him, and he might have even chuckled at the situation if it weren't so dire. He decided that if things turned out well, he stopped, rewording it: when things turned out well, he'd laugh it over some alcohol with Romario.

"Well, we have to get going. Let's move Yamamoto to the mansion, and I'll call Dr. Shamal when we get there. Let's see… is most of his stuff packed?" Kusakabe searched around the room, putting things back into Yamamoto's one suitcase while Hibari remained in the bedroom.

"I think that's about it," Kusakabe announced after a few minutes. Hibari still had not moved from the bedside and was staring at Yamamoto at the moment, biting his lips slightly. 'Ah, he really is worried about him…'

"Would you like to wait in the car? I'll make two trips down," Kusakabe asked him.

"I'll take Yamamoto."

Kusakabe paused, thinking that he heard wrong. "What?"

"I'll take Yamamoto," Hibari repeated.

.

The sun in Italy was stunning this particular afternoon. A woman in her late forties with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail stood up from her garden work, stretching. She looked over to her side where the slope of the hill began declining, revealing the rest of the beautiful countryside below, quietly pondering to herself how peaceful it all seemed, here where Japan was so far away.

"My lady!" a voice called from the house, making her turn towards the sound in surprise. Ever since she had arrived here, the servants rarely bothered her except for the usual greetings of the day whenever she passed them. She saw the butler running towards her, face flushed from excitement. "You have a visitor!"

By the time she had made it back to the house, the visitor, a mysterious figure clad in a dark robe with the hood on, was already in the drawing room with a baby carriage near her. The visitor removed the hood when she entered, revealing a woman in her twenties, smiling softly.

"Chrome… then this means…" the lady of the house hurried over to the carriage, gently lifting up the cloth that covered it, tears running down her face. "He's safe! My dear Hiro…"

"It was a success," the Chrome told her. "No one in our world knows of his existence."

She looked at the Mist Guardian, a smile beaming on her tear streaked face. "Then he'll stay here?"

Chrome nodded. "As planned."

The opening of the door made the two turn around.

"Oh, you're back! Look! It's Hiro-kun!" she told her husband excitedly.

He grinned, walking over to the cradle. "Aw, he's sleeping like nothing's happened at all." He turned to Chrome. "Thank you for all your hard work."

Chrome smiled, nodding, "Live safely then."

"Wait, you're leaving already? At least stay for dinner!" she told the Mist Guardian.

"Ah…" Chrome began, but the woman's enthusiastic smile was too much for her. "Okay, but I must return to Japan soon."

The husband chuckled. "Our hot-headed Storm and Sun Guardians must be making quite a fuss with the Varia about now."

Chrome sighed. "Not only that. I'm afraid the enemy has acted faster than we'd anticipated."

"Ah, let's hope this turns out well too then," he said, sighing. "The mafia's always been like this."

"Please don't worry about us," the Mist Guardian told him.

He chuckled. "Yeah, you're right. After all, he came up with this plan just so we could live out our lives without worrying. Oh, but do tell him to visit at least once in a while."

Chrome nodded. "Of course."

.

"Let's see, location is in Japan: oh that's convenient. We can bring one guard only from our own Famiglia: great," Gokudera muttered to himself in the limo on the way to the mansion as he read the instructions that had arrived earlier.

"You know that the probability of this being a trap is fairly high," Irie warned him.

"Yeah… I wonder if we can station someone outside… oh, nevermind. Anyone not included in the party will be shot without hesitation if they are found on the land surrounding the designated location of the meeting."

"So the question is who we should send with you as the guard," Irie said, thinking.

"I'll go!" Ryohei volunteered a little too enthusiastically.

"Huh? Are you sure?"

"Oh come on! With two Guardians there, we can deal with anything that might happen no problem!"

"That's true," the scientist agreed, nodding. "Oh, Gokudera, did you also tell Varia to meet us at the mansion?"

"Yeah, I think they're already there actually."

"They are," Ryohei added, his mood suddenly swinging the other way. "I couldn't find Kyoko anywhere earlier so she must have gone with them," he said darkly.

'Oh… that's probably why he wants to go then,' Gokudera thought. "What about the others?" he asked the two.

"They've already gone ahead in the other cars, actually. We're the last ones," Irie told him. "I think Dino's gone back to his men to discuss with them. He's probably going to bring Romario…"

"Oh! Then maybe we'll see Lady Uni and Gamma there too!" Ryohei said excitedly. "We'd be safe to the extreme."

"Hopefully…" Gokudera muttered. A tap against the window made him look outside, finding that a light rain had started. He hoped it wasn't a warning of things to come.

Upon arriving at the mansion the Storm Guardian decided he'd have a drink from the storeroom, remembering that he had packed quite a few bottles of alcohol in this particular location before moving back to Italy. He knew it probably wasn't a good idea since he had some safety planning to do regarding the meeting and the mansion later, but he couldn't think of anything else to get the earlier scene regarding Hiro off his mind. However, voices from the infirmary changed his plans as he decided to head over to see what had happened.

"Did someone get hurt already?" Gokudera asked, peeping in the room. To his surprise, he saw Kusakabe on the phone, Yamamoto on the bed, apparently asleep, and Hibari leaning against the bedside table drawer, looking a little sweaty and out of breath.

"Ah, Gokudera-san, you've arrived," Kusakabe greeted him after he hung up.

"What's up with Yamamoto this time?" He looked at Hibari only for the other to look away before leaving the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Uh, you see… He fainted back at the hotel and hasn't woken up since," Kusakabe explained, looking a little restlessly at the door.

"Huh? Just punch him or something," Gokudera said, poking him.

"We've tried waking him already."

"Ah… we'd better get Dr. Shamal to look at him then," the Storm Guardian sighed.

"The doctor is coming. I've just talked with him on the phone, and it seems that he's arrived at the mansion." The door reopening violently announced the entering of the doctor.

"I can't believe this!" Shamal grumbled, walking past Gokudera. "I was perfectly at peace at that nice bar with all those beautiful women, and you call me back to look at a man again!" He stormed over to the bed. "What's wrong with him this time? Hey! Wake up!" he yelled.

However, Yamamoto kept on sleeping, oblivious to the outside world.

"What's all the commotion?" Irie asked before seeing Yamamoto. "Oh…"

Shamal sighed. "Well since you're here, help me check his Flame levels. I'll check his vitals."

"I'll leave it to you," Kusakabe told Gokudera. "I still have to move some things to Kyou-san's room."

"Okay." Kusakabe left quickly, and Gokudera knew that he had gone to check on the Cloud Guardian. The expression on Hibari's face earlier was a little strange, he recalled, frowning. 'Just what happened between those two idiots?' He turned back to Yamamoto. 'So they carried him up here as soon as they arrived… I wonder…' Gokudera watched as the doctor and the scientist quickly set up the equipment in the room and soon the familiar beep of the heart monitor joined the sounds.

"Hm…" Shamal muttered an hour later as Irie showed him the chart.

"What's wrong?" Gokudera asked him.

"Did he by any chance use his Flames earlier?"

"The others said they didn't see anything, but I think he might have. He was there when Hibari killed the assassin back at the hotel," Gokudera told him.

"Another assassin, huh?" Shamal sighed. "How much longer do have I to take care of you guys. Anyways, he's just very low on Flames at the moment. He's going to sleep for a few days like that, so leave him be."

"Huh? That's it?"

"The bullet sucked out all of his Flames, so of course he shouldn't be using them at all until he's recovered enough. I warned him," Shamal said, shaking his head in annoyance. "Well, I'm going to go take a nap. I still can't believe…" He left the room grumbling about the bar.

"I'll stay here and monitor him for a little longer," the scientist announced.

"Alright. Tell me if anything comes up. Don't forget to rest too," Gokudera told him.

"Yeah, thanks," Irie said, smiling.

.

Gokudera walked out of the infirmary, shaking his head in annoyance. He didn't expect the Rain Guardian to knock himself out before the battle even started. To his surprise, he spotted Hibari up ahead in the corridor, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, looking out at the rain outside the window beside him. Now, the Storm Guardian was definitely not an expert when it came to the little ups and downs of the Cloud Guardian's moods, but he swore that he spotted something akin to worry under the expressionless disposition.

"He just needs sleep," Gokudera told the other as he walked past, and Hibari tore his gaze away from the window towards the retreating Storm Guardian's back.

"He fainted after I hit him at the hotel earlier," he confessed, his voice the normal bored tone.

Gokudera stopped, realizing what Hibari was trying to tell him. He sighed. 'I am surrounded by idiots.'

"Sheesh, if you're going to get so worried about him then don't hit him next time!" he said before walking again. He stopped and turned his head slightly to look back when he didn't receive a response. "Like I said, he's fine. Just concentrate on guarding the mansion if anything should happen. You should get some rest; a lot has happened today, right?" He shrugged when he still received no answer and headed back for his room.

Hibari continued to stare outside aimlessly until he heard the opening and closing of the infirmary door, signaling that Irie had finally left. He walked across the hallway and entered, closing the door quietly behind him before drawing up a chair.

"Hibari!" a small chirp greeted him as Hibird flew in from the slightly opened window, its feathers all flat from the rain. Hibari caught it in his palm and walked over to the cabinet to get a towel to dry the little bird off.

.

The remaining two days passed silently as the rain persistently fell in light sheets hour after hour, keeping the sky dark and the atmosphere foreboding.

On the day of the meeting, the Storm Guardian descended the stairs slowly, taking his time to think about the current situation. 'If something were to happen to us, Varia's here, so things should be okay…' He spotted Ryohei already near the front entrance, leaning against one of the pillars. "Ryohei!" The Sun Guardian didn't seem to notice him. Annoyed, Gokudera called out, "Hey Lawn Head!" The other looked at him, surprised. "You ready?"

Ryohei nodded. "Ready to the extreme!" he declared a little too unenthusiastically, just a little. Gokudera decided that the rain was finally getting to him.

They reached the mansion a few minutes ahead of time; Gokudera had blatantly refused to let Ryohei drive. To his surprise, the Sun Guardian had backed down only after a few exchanges this time, unlike the incident with the plane. He was definitely blaming the rain now.

"Welcome," a rather intimating muscular butler greeted them. "The meeting room is this way." The two followed him uneasily into the depths of the mansion, exchanging glances behind his back. They went through a set of double doors to find most of the seats of the long table occupied, familiar mafia leaders with their bodyguards standing behind them.

Gokudera sat down next to Dino, his usual warm smile absent at the moment. The head of the Chiavarone blinked and looked the other way down the table to the person at the end. Curious, the Storm Guardian led his eyes to where the other had motioned and had to blink again to see if his vision was deceiving him. However, the face and the signature stitches were the exact same pattern he had seen in Vongola's records. There was no mistaking it, unless there was an extremely powerful illusionist in the room, and even then, he was certain that someone would have already said something.

"Estraneo…" Gokudera gasped.

* * *

Hello! Ah, sorry this one took a little longer for me to write. I went to Anime Expo last week, so that was a few days of writing gone, and my brain doesn't seem to be very active lately; I gotta kick it back into action! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! "Estraneo" is not new XD.

As always, thanks for reading!


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

Notes: So there are going to be a few more mafia leaders appearing in this chapter, and I didn't feel like addressing them constantly as "blah's leader," so I've (lovingly) given each one of them names!

Estraneo (Mukuro's old Famiglia that's supposed to be destroyed, according to the KHR Wikia): Dante

Nero (Famiglia that controls all of Asia, appeared in Chapter 50): Tian

Beccio (Famiglia that also appeared in Chapter 50): Aroldo

* * *

-Present-

"Hibari!" Yamamoto finally caught the other today, now refusing to let go of the wrist he had grabbed.

"What?" the other snapped.

"Well uh…" He had spent the entire day trying to catch Hibari just to completely forget what he had wanted to say to the skylark. "Do you…" he paused, thinking. "Do you want to go to the beach?"

"No," came the instantaneous reply as Hibari wrenched his hand away.

"Ah wait!" Yamamoto called after him as he followed. "What about the arcade?"

"No."

"A movie?"

"No."

"The…"

"What are you trying to accomplish, Yamamoto Takeshi?" Hibari asked, suddenly stopping and grabbing the other's collar.

Yamamoto chuckled. "I'm trying to ask you out on a date." He ducked, pulling his collar away from Hibari, just in time to avoid a tonfa. By the time he dared to look up, Hibari was storming away again, and he ran after him.

"What about…"

Hibari walked faster.

"The park?"

The skylark stopped, and Yamamoto almost crashed into him in surprise, only to find himself grabbed by the collar again. "Do I look like an herbivore to you?"

Yamamoto chuckled, taking Hibari's hands off of him before raising them and kissing the skylark's fingertips. "No." He saw the blush go straight up to the other's ears.

"Let me go," Hibari warned.

"No," Yamamoto returned playfully. "Not until you agree to go somewhere."

"Fine! Just stop crowding around me!" Hibari snapped as he wrenched his hand away and took off. This time, Yamamoto didn't follow since he had finally completed his goal for that day. 'Tomorrow's mission: get Hibari to decide on a place,' he thought happily as he hummed to himself.

"What's wrong with him?" Gokudera asked Tsuna, who sighed, shaking his head.

-Future-

The man laughed heartily as if it was the funniest comment he'd heard in ages, making the other leaders of the room automatically turn towards him. He finally stopped, catching his breath deliberately. "I'm honored that you remember me, Vongola, or should I say, since your leader doesn't seem to be in any shape to attend, Storm Guardian," he said, smirking.

A wave of hushed whispers ensued upon the realization that the unknown man who sat at the head of the table and seemed to be the mastermind of the meeting was of the "vanquished" Estraneo Famiglia. Gokudera felt his stomach sink when his fears were confirmed: here in one room was nearly every single leader of every influential Famiglia in the world, along with the man who created the infamous Possession Bullet.

"Are you that surprised to see me?" he asked, the smirk not leaving his scarred stitched face.

"Ah, we thought that you were…" one of the leaders began.

"Dead?" He laughed again. "Death is but a beginning. Although, you are not wrong in saying that I am dead." The room around them suddenly burst into flames, making a few of the bosses jumped out of their chairs, yelling.

"It's an illusion!" Ryohei yelled just as Gokudera himself was about pull out his bombs. With that, the flames disappeared as suddenly as they had come, and the leader of Estraneo laughed, thoroughly humored by their reactions.

"What trained eyes you have," he commented, looking over Ryohei. "I didn't know that Vongola's Sun Guardian was so good at recognizing illusions."

"Do that again, and I'll kick your ass to the extreme!" Ryohei snapped back. However, Gokudera did kind of agree with the leader of Estraneo; he didn't know the Sun Guardian could recognize Mist Flame tricks either.

"Yes, if you would please dispel the rest of your illusions," the leader of the Nero Famiglia added, arms crossed. He was one of the few who didn't jump up during the previous display of Flames.

The Estraneo grinned. "As you wish." Gokudera and a few others gasped when Mist Flames flowed away from his eyes, revealing two red orbs, the left one currently embellished with the kanji for "one".

'No way… That's Mukuro's…'

"Well," Dante began, resting his elbows on the table, hands clasped in a business-like manner, "now that we have that out of the way, let's start our discussion."

"Yes, do tell us what you want to discuss," Tian said sarcastically, raising a hand slightly to stop his own bodyguard, who had unsheathed his weapon prior and was about to jump at the Estraneo leader.

"Ah, I see that Nero is becoming a little tamer these days," Dante commented, earning a growl from the bodyguard. "You must be quite the leader, whipping them into submission in just these past two years. You're quite the opposite of your father. He is currently gravely ill, am I correct? I think my Famiglia and I can lend a hand, although it might be best for your Famiglia if you continued your leadership."

"Please refrain from insulting my father," the other answered as his bodyguard's hand's traveled to the sword again.

'Wow, they've changed since the last time I saw them,' Gokudera thought.

The Estraneo laughed. "Of course, of course. Ever so serious, little Tian…" He turned to the others, seeming to enjoy prolonging the start of his "discussion." "Now then, I'm sure all of you are excited to hear my proposal."

"As if…" the leader of Beccio, another fairly new boss who had assumed his position also two years ago, muttered.

"Stay your hand," Tian whispered back. "We're already at a disadvantage, coming here."

"What do you…"

"I request a merging of all our Famiglia with Estraneo at the top," Dante finished, smiling as the room immediately exploded into outrage.

"Are you kidding?" Aroldo exclaimed, unable to hold back his quick temper.

"What makes you think you have the right?" Tian asked slowly, a little flustered even though he had advised his friend to calm down just moments ago, caught completely off guard by the absurdity of the proposal.

The others in the room spouted similar feelings, and soon all Gokudera could make out were the words, "ridiculous" and "crazy."

"I suppose I am crazy," Dante answered after watching the scene for a few minutes, "but it's my craziness that has given my Famiglia so much." He snapped his fingers and the screen behind him turned on. "For example…"

A picture of a half-human, half-wolf came on screen, halfway in a howl at the camera, reminding Gokudera very much of Ken, except double the size.

"A permanent human-animal hybrid with the power and speed of an animal but the ability to control Flames, and, if I may add, with no reserves about tearing its assigned target into pieces."

"Assigned?" Tian asked.

"Oh, of course. We fit all our weapons with microchips in their brains. It keeps them in check."

'Bastard…' Gokudera thought, knowing that these were definitely continuations of the experiments he had heard about from Tsuna years ago.

Dante continued, ignoring the hushed whispers around him, switching to the next slide. "We have of course discovered how to reanimate bodies," the slide switched, "create bioweapons from scratch or said reanimated bodies," the slide switched. "Oh, and my favorite: I call it the 'Giant'."

Gokudera stared at the picture with a mixture of horror and wonder. The thing that appeared on the screen appeared to be human, once, but its muscles were so out of proportion and warped that he doubted that even it if had managed to retain its humanity, it would only wish for death.

"Beautiful things they are…" Dante said, seemingly talking to himself. "They're like juggernauts, let one loose and nothing can take it down. Give it a target, and it'd go after it until the last muscle in either the target or its own body is ripped to shreds." The others were past whispering now, only looking at the pictures with a sense of dread.

"You do realize," Tian spoke, finally breaking the silence of the room, "that depending on the methods you used for creating such… interesting creatures, you might be at risk at violating our laws."

"Your laws?" Dante laughed. "How can innovation come by following that old pile of trash?"

"Then you do not deny…"

"Every single work of art that you have seen was created with the heroic sacrifice of our own men. These," he pointed to one of his eyes, "were only possible because we were finally able find a suitable host for them and then copy his DNA before duplicating it. It almost wiped out the Estraneo Famiglia, creating these."

'Mukuro's eyes?' Gokudera bit his lip.

Tian, unfazed by the announcement, continued, "In that case, I suppose you know what is to come, by calling us here."

"Yeah, there's no way we'd sit back and let you do whatever you want," Aroldo agreed.

'Oh… shit…' Gokudera thought when he heard footsteps outside through the chaos, followed by muffled yells.

"Oh, I don't you think you have much choice in the matter," Dante answered, the corners of his mouth twisted in his most sinister smile by far as the doors flew open, and an army of men streamed in, each armed with a gun already cloaked in Flames.

"You little…" Aroldo snarled.

"Oh, I kept my promise. These aren't the men I hired with your money. They're all probably outside in the hallways with bullets through their heads. Good for later experiments…" He stood up, walking around from his seat as the others remained still in front of the firing squad.

"Don't worry," he said when he passed Gokudera. "These aren't those famed 'bullets'. You Vongola have already ruined our deal with Fuoco. For that, I regret to say that you'll be excluded from our group."

Gokudera sprang from his seat and froze when one of the men grabbed Ryohei and pressed a gun to the Sun Guardian's head.

"Ah, so impatient," Dante shook his head. "I wasn't even finished talking yet."

"You'll pay for this to the extreme!" Ryohei yelled at him.

"No!" Gokudera tried to warn him, but Ryohei had already elbowed the man in the rib cage before taking out his Box Weapon. Instantly, a rain of gunshots rang across the room and he fell, motionless in a pool of his own blood on the floor, which was already starting to seep into the carpet.

"Ryohei!" Gokudera and Dino yelled, freezing as the guns repositioned.

"Try anything, and you'll be next." The two could only glare at him as he continued pacing the room. "Chiavorone will, of course, also be eliminated since they had a hand in complicating our operations." He looked at the blond leader, who glared back, teeth clenched. "Oh, don't look so worried. We will deal with you last since your Famiglia is so weak without its leader," Dante commented sarcastically.

"How dare you," Dino snarled.

He continued as if nothing was said, reveling in the angry glares he was earning. "Oh, and all of those cowards who didn't attend will also be wiped out. I've already sent a group to the Giglio Nero. I'm sure Lady Uni will be expecting them soon. Ah," His eyes met Gokudera's, who felt the blood drain from his face. "I've also heard that you've sent your entire Famiglia to the mansion here in Japan? I've sent them an especially special gift that we've been working on these past two years that should be arriving any minute now. Beautiful works of art they are, really… a stronger version of the Giant that you've just seen. I used two of my men to create each one."

Gokudera bit his lip to stop himself from saying anything stupid, running possible plans through his head. However, the way he saw it now, the window of opportunity had already closed. Ryohei, the healer, was on the floor bleeding to death if not already dead, the mansion was about to be attacked by who knows what, and he himself, the leader of Vongola, was trapped helplessly in a room against at least two dozen gunmen. 'Tsuna… I've failed…' A soft elbow to this side knocked him out of his thoughts.

"Don't give up," Dino muttered to him, trying to stay calm himself.

"Ah, this feels so good, finally being in control of things," Dante sighed, laughing. "You know when we developed the Possession Bullet years ago, we never expected you guys to cringe under such pure power, call us brutes, and then shoot us as soon as you saw us. But…" he stopped, finally looking at each boss in turn except for Gokudera and Dino, "I'm offering you a choice now. Join me, and we will rule the world."

The room was silent, and Dante continued pacing around patiently, smirking at the predicament he had put the others in. He knew that they were aware that if they joined in, he would only use their Famiglia as test subjects, but not joining him meant death. The man reveled in the conflict he could almost breathe in that emanated from the others. However, a laugh broke the silence, making everyone turn to its source.

The leader of Nero put a hand over his mouth, reducing his laugh to a chuckle, closing his eyes and standing up. He turned to the man bearing the two eyes that both saw the Path to Reincarnation and looked them straight on, the laughter still on his face in the form of an amused smile. "I refuse," he announced, earning a gasp across the room.

"You fool," the head of the Beccio hissed beside him.

"I have a duty to my Famiglia for not subjugating them as dogs to your petty experiments, as unruly and uncivilized as they are, a promise," he looked at Gokudera, "with Vongola to support them in times of need, and," he turned his gaze back at the other, "I have my honor. Shoot if you dare."

"You insolent…"

"I… I also refuse!" Aroldo stood up before Dante could give any orders.

"What are you…" his friend asked.

"I won't be outdone by you," he hissed back. It had taken Tian all he had to make the announcement like it was nothing and Aroldo knew it, seeing the slight quiver of the other's hand under the long sleeve.

However, the pair of young leaders' bravery did its work.

The head of Estraneo watched as one by one, the leaders began to stand up, all refusing him. He glared at them, considering possessing them with the lone bullet in his pocket and torturing them to no end before killing them in front of their "beloved" Famiglias. His eyes met Gokudera's, and he reconsidered. It was too much trouble for a God such as himself anyway to deal with these pieces of trash now. He turned to his men. "Kill them all. We'll use their bodies as food for the Giants later."

The men aimed their guns at determined eyes. The sounds of gunshots echoed through the mansion as a white owl flew out of the bushes into the rain, disturbed from its slumber.

.

"Hm?" Spanner looked at the radar, frowning as the beeping noise got faster and faster. "Hey!" he called to the sofas next to him. "Hey! Wake up!"

"Huh?" Irie groggily answered him, reaching lazily for his glasses.

"There's something big approaching the manor. It's closing in very fast."

"What?" Irie forced his glasses on, now fully awake, as Giannini stumbled off the sofa from his nap.

"Look," Spanner pointed at the screen.

Irie blinked, shocked for a moment as his mind fully comprehended what the radar was telling them. "Oh no…" he gasped as he hurried over to one of the house phones, "Tell the girls to get down here and the others to prepare for battle!" He dialed the number to Kyoko's room, but received no answer. "Oh crap, where are they?" He dialed again, this time trying Hana's, tapping his foot impatiently as the rings echoed in his ear.

"Hello?" the girl finally answered him.

"We've got a problem; get down to the control room underground as fast as you can. You remember the way right?"

"Yeah. What about Kyoko and Haru?"

"I'll call them. Hurry!"

"Okay." He hung up, biting his lip as he tried to call Kyoko again.

"I've contacted Haru," Giannini told him, and Irie nodded as the rings continued to sound on his line.

The scientist threw the phone back into its receiver in frustration. "Kyoko's not picking up. She must be somewhere else in the manor. Maybe…" He went through the different places in the mansion quickly in his head, trying to decide which one to try next.

"It's too late…" Spanner gasped as a rumble shook the house. They heard a distant roar from above them, one that turned the blood cold. "It's not human…" he muttered under his breath.

A beep on the screen returned them to their senses. "What the hell's going on?" Squalo yelled at them from his icon on the screen.

"We're being attacked!" Irie told him.

"Yeah, that's obvious," he scoffed. "By what?"

"The readings are fuzzy, but I think there are four… no eight of them," Spanner told him as Haru and Hana came in. "Be careful. I can't identify them for some reason."

'They're moving in perfect pairs…' Irie thought as he studied the screen, trying to clear the signal. However, he found nothing wrong with the radar. "What the…"

"What's going on?" Haru cried.

On the other hand, Hana gave the room a quick glance before asking, "Where's Kyoko?" when she realized that the other girl wasn't there.

"She didn't pick up her phone," Irie told her. "I'm trying the other lines right now."

Hana turned her attention to the screen, her eyes widening. She ran to the computer, hands shaking as she used the table as support. "What is that?" Irie finally realized that she was looking at the screen with Ryohei's vitals, and his heart fell. They had been so preoccupied with the radar that he didn't notice when the line for the heart went flat.

"No, wait! It's too dangerous!" Irie yelled when he turned back to Hana, but the girl had already disappeared through the door.

"Oh no! Hana-chan…"

"No, stay here!" Giannini grabbed her before she could run after Hana.

"Hana-chan!" Haru screamed after the other.

"This can't be…" Irie gasped, his fists clenched so tight that his knuckles were turning white.

"Hey, why is his Flame level still so high?" Spanner asked, frowning.

"It is?" Irie looked at the screen again. "What going on out there?" The walls shook again, knocking some dust down from the ceiling.

.

Hibari sprang up as soon as he felt the first shock, finding that he was in his own room. He remembered falling asleep in the infirmary and assumed that the ever so loyal Kusakabe had carried him back to his room so that he could get a proper rest. Putting the thoughts aside, Hibari rushed out of his room to the nearest rain streaked window and saw something move outside, unable to make out in the rain. The house shook again as it slammed against the walls, and he heard breaking glass a few floors down.

Within a second Hibari was already down the hall, running towards the infirmary, taking out his tonfa in preparation and slipping on a few extra Cloud Rings.

.

"Are we all here? Where's Fran?" Squalo asked when he saw the others. He didn't bother including Xanxus like usual, knowing that the leader of the Varia would show up if he was desperately needed.

"I can't find the Frog anywhere," Bel told him.

"Ah whatever, let's go!" Squalo said. The window behind them shattered and a mutated hand reached in, trying to grab whatever was near it.

"Oh dear, that's quite large," Lussuria commented.

"Hello! Can you hear me?" Squalo heard Irie's voice through his headset.

"Yeah, we're in contact with the enemy."

"Ah! It's inside already?"

"Of course it is, didn't you hear…"

"Both Kyoko and Hana are somewhere in the upper floors!"

"Huh?" He dodged the hand just in time as whatever the thing was tried to flatten him with its palm. "Shit!"

.

"Xanxus? Xanxus!" Kyoko yelled as she ran down the hallway, hearing the thumping footsteps outside get louder and louder. She turned a corner and to her horror, another pair of heavy thumps headed towards her from the other direction.

"Kyoko?" Hana yelled, running towards her from the opposite hall before the wall behind her exploded, propelling her forward.

"Hana!" Kyoko ran to her friend, who struggled to get up as the dust the in the air blocked their vision and clogged their noses, and the rain from outside blew into the house with a strong gust of wind. The wall behind Kyoko collapsed also, and the two backed into the wall, hugging each other for dear life as two sets of heavy thumping came closer and closer.

.

Ryohei woke up, sitting up groggily as he looked at the clock. "What! I'm late to the extreme!" he exclaimed as he sprang out of bed only to nearly lose his balance when the house shook. He threw the door to his room open, looking around frantically for the source of the noise, only to hear distant screaming on the floor below that sounded like his sister and his girlfriend's.

"Kyoko! Hana! I'm coming!" he summoned his kangaroo and the two jumped out the window for the quickest way down.

* * *

Whoa! I was reading an old chapter and thought, "Huh? I didn't know this happened!" Ah, I need to make a timeline of each chapter next time just to remember what I've written haha. I've reread and fixed all prior chapters, but the story's still the same, just hopefully now with less plot inconsistencies with the help of a few rewordings. Gomen for the trouble!

Thanks for reading! In addition, thank you so much, reviewers. It makes me so happy to know someone enjoys my writing! It's like an incentive to write more! I know my updating is crazy because of my writing style, but it's because of you guys that I keep on writing whenever a spark hits me! Hontou ni arigatou!

PS. I think I gave Tian too much love haha. Let's assume he wasn't part of that group that appeared in Chapter 50. They were kind of… silly ^.^ (whistles innocently).


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

Note: Ah, sorry! There are so many fight scenes going on! Gomen if it starts getting confusing T.T!

* * *

-Present-

"So I heard that the movie was pretty good," Gokudera said to Tsuna and Yamamoto as the three walked through the school courtyard on the way home. "We should watch it at the Tenth's house today! I brought it with me!"

"Uh… that might be a problem," Tsuna laughed nervously. "I mean, Reborn and Lambo…"

As Yamamoto listened to the other two, he saw Hibari walking towards them and waved a hand in greeting, grinning. The other two caught his gesture and immediately spotted the Cloud Guardian, wondering what crazy scene they were about to witness next.

"Hey Hibari! Are you going home too?" Yamamoto asked him, but the skylark instead continued to walk towards them only to grab the Rain Guardian by the sleeve as he passed and drag him away from the other two, making a giant U-turn as he headed off school grounds.

"Uh…" Gokudera scratched his head and looked at Tsuna. "Want to watch the movie anyway? If you're worried about Reborn, then we can watch it at my house."

"Hm…" Tsuna thought as the Storm Guardian suddenly had a "brilliant" idea.

"Or, we can trail those two and see what's up!" he suggested enthusiastically.

"Ah, let's just go watch the movie," Tsuna said nervously. "We should leave those two alone."

.

"Uh, Hibari?" Yamamoto asked, grinning, his left sleeve still gripped tightly by the other's right hand, forcing him to stumble backwards as Hibari continued forward. "Where are we going?" The skylark let go, and he lost balance, falling backwards. "Ouch…" Yamamoto groaned as he got up, rubbing his back while Hibari continued looking straight ahead silently. "What's wrong?"

"You forgot," came the reply.

"What…" Yamamoto suddenly realized just what was going on and chuckled. "We haven't agreed on a time yet." Hibari looked at him, frowning. "That's how dates work; we decide on a place and a time."

The Cloud Guardian blinked at him, realizing the ridiculousness of the statement he had just made. He looked away, "Next time then…" Yamamoto detected something that sounded almost like disappointment. Almost.

"Wait!" the Rain Guardian grabbed the other's sleeve just as Hibari started walking away in the other direction. "Let's go today!" he announced as he started walking, this time pulling an unwilling skylark with him. Hibari sighed, silently allowing the other to lead him while preparing the tonfa under his sleeve should anyone suddenly pop out of the deserted street and spot the two.

-Future-

"We have an incoming call!" Giannini announced as Irie tried to pull himself together, still not able to track down the whereabouts of the girls.

"Put them on," Irie told him. The screen opened with a wave of static before clearing, revealing Uni in what looked like a control room.

"Hello," she greeted them before the walls behind her shook violently.

"What's going on over there? Are you being attacked too?" Spanner asked.

"Yes. We decided not to attend the meeting and suddenly these monsters came. Gamma and the others are fighting them right now," she told them as the walls shook again. "Do you happen to have any data on them?"

"Actually," Irie began before his own walls gave a shudder, "we're getting attacked too. We have no idea what they are; the readings are blurry."

"Ah I see…" she fell silent, seeming to ponder on what to do next.

"Lady Uni…"

She shook her head. "Don't worry about us. Take care of your Famiglia first; we'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Irie asked uncertainly.

"Of course!" she answered smiling.

"Alright, then keep us updated," Spanner told her.

"Okay." The screen shut off.

"Why'd you…" Giannini began.

"There's nothing we can do," the other scientist responded. "Think about it; We're in Japan, and she's in Italy."

"We can use that transport system."

"We could, if we weren't also fighting."

Giannini sighed. "You have a point."

"For now, let's just monitor the situation," Irie told him.

"Right."

At that moment, Lambo entered the room, shaking nervously.

"What's happening?" the cow asked, distressed.

"We're trying to figure it out," Spanner told him.

The Lightning Guardian looked around, frowning when he saw only Haru sitting on the couch, swinging her legs nervously. "Where are the others?"

.

Gokudera dared to open an eye, having instinctually ducked when he heard the first gunshot. He felt no pain at the moment and wondered if he was dead or just plain lucky. To his surprise, Dino stood up beside him, unscathed, looking around incredulously. The rest of them stirred, having thrown themselves to the floor like Gokudera.

Dante watched the scene in disbelief, finally turning to his gunmen in search for the answer to what had just happened. He found the solution in an instant in the form of a growing red flower on one of the gunmen's shirts. "What is the meaning of this?" he roared at them. "How could you have missed so horribly?" He looked back at the group of bosses. "Every single shot…"

The gunman in question looked down awkwardly at the expanding blood spot, his black glasses dropping off with a clank as it hit the floor. He looked back at Dante with a clear kanji six on his right eye as the blood vessels around his eye began to tense. Unable to withstand the killing blow any longer, then man fell to the floor, followed briefly by the other gunmen, all with bullets through their hearts.

"What the…" Dante yelled. "Which one of you?" He turned towards the others. "Which one of you is doing this?"

"Uh… boss," his own bodyguard began awkwardly as he was suddenly reminded that he was now in a room full of hostiles with only one other person as backup.

"I'll kill you all myself! I don't need you!" he snapped at the guard as the number five replaced the one in his left eye, his Flames exploding around him. "Here I come," he hissed, springing at Tian, knocking the latter's bodyguard aside easily before aiming a punch for the other's stomach. The mafia boss nimbly jumped aside just in time, rolling away as Dante's punch made contact with the wall, cracking the concrete and sending chunks of debris everywhere.

"Wow that's some punch," Dino whistled as he took out his Box Weapon.

"I won't let you," Dante knocked the Box Weapon out of the other's hand only to have an explosion suddenly throw him backwards away from the blond. The others watch in morbid fascination as the man slowly stood up laughing, his clothes slightly torn but with no signs of blood. "Pretty good," he commented, looking at Gokudera, who watched as the number five burned into his other eye, "but not good enough."

He sprang again and suddenly disappeared.

"Another illusion?" Aroldo gasped while trying to shield Tian as the latter healed his bodyguard with Sun Flames.

They heard Dante's laughter throughout the room. "Can't see me, can you?" One of the bodies of the gunmen exploded, throwing blood all over the bosses and their bodyguards close to it. "You'll never catch me! I'm too fast for you!" Another body exploded from the Estraneo's punch, sending the room into a panic as the others backed into the table to get as far away from the exploding gunmen as possible.

'Just with a punch he can…' Gokudera thought, gritting his teeth as he activated the Sistema C.A.I.

"You can't possible hit me with that slow thing," Dante laughed, finally reappearing right in front of the Storm Guardian, his mouth lit up with an unearthly smile. "Game over."

At that moment, a flash of black and yellow jumped between him and his target, and his punch landed right into the interferer's palm.

.

"Voi! Die already!" Squalo yelled as he finally got a hit on the monster's arm. He gasped in surprise as his sword almost bounced off, barely scratching the surface of the two-headed giant's skin as he saw a brief flash of green fire.

"My turn," Bel announced sadistically as he threw a wave of Storm Flame lined knives at the creature, effectively puncturing it several times, the blades sticking out of its hard skin as blood trickled down its chest, arms, and legs.

"Oh, he's a strong one," Lussuria commented, watching the battle with glee. "Such defined muscles." He jumped away as the monster made a grab at him, missing and smashing the inner corridor wall, throwing one of the paintings to the floor. "Oh dear, nevermind. He's a little too muscular. Our own dear Sun Guardian is much more…"

Both of the heads roared at them, and Squalo blinked, realizing that Bel's knives were falling off as the cuts healed, emitting a mixture of Sun and Lightning Flames. "Hey! Irie!" he yelled into his receiver.

"What's the situation?" the scientist answered back immediately.

"The enemy's a two headed freak that can use two kinds of Flames! Ours has both Lightning and Sun Flames!"

"Oh, so that's why I'm getting double readings everywhere…"

"Great, whatever. How do you defeat something with that combination?"

"True, it's either blocking our attacks with its hardened Lightning Flames or healing itself with Sun Flames whenever it gets injured," Lussuria added.

"Uh…"

"Well?"

"Destroy the entire thing all at once," the scientist answered. Squalo could almost picture Irie shrugging. "You're the Varia aren't you?"

"Tch." Squalo readied his blade. "Heard that guys?"

.

Hana stole a peak through the clearing dust only to see two giant creatures around them, looking at the girls curiously. The closer one tried to grab Kyoko, its huge hand moving towards the Sun Guardian's sister.

'Ryohei…' Hana clenched her teeth, remembering the reading she saw on the computer screen.

"Stay away from Kyoko!" Hana warned the creatures, mustering enough courage to stand between them and Kyoko. However, one of the heads frowned and swung, knocking her against the wall.

"Hana!" Kyoko screamed as she crawled over to her friend while the other three heads began shrieking in unison, agreeing to kill the prey before them. They closed in and Kyoko closed he eyes, preparing for the worst.

"Get away from them!" Ryohei yelled just as one of the monsters swung, announcing his entrance with a punch to its stomach, knocking it back a few feet.

"Brother!"

"Ryohei?" Hana gasped weakly.

"I'm here to save you to the extreme!" the Sun Guardian told her, grinning.

"You're alive…" she gasped before fainting, relieved.

"Hana!" Ryohei turned to the monster and punched it again with all his strength, this time managing to knock it back out of the corridor and into the rain while his kangaroo landed a blow on the second creature. However, the Box Weapon failed to get the desired results as the monster only took a step back in surprise before throwing a punch of its own, knocking the kangaroo aside before heading for the girls.

"No you don't!" Ryohei ran for it only to suddenly get grabbed from behind by the one he had just attacked. "Hana, Kyoko!" he yelled as he struggled with the giant, throwing useless punches to its arm in an attempt to free himself.

Just as the creature was about to attack the two girls, a flash of orange threw him back also into the rain.

"Xanxus…" Kyoko gasped, still holding Hana tightly, as the leader of the Varia walked towards the monster that was now getting back to its feet. His liger took its form in front of the girls, letting out a roar even more ferocious than the creatures themselves, its master's anger radiating fire in the corridor dimly lit by the rainy sky.

.

Hibari finally reached the infirmary, opening the door breathlessly to find the room untouched and Yamamoto still sleeping peacefully under the dim light of the rainy outdoors. He sighed in relief, closing his eyes as he calmed his breathing and listened for any signs of whatever he saw outside earlier. Instinct and habit urged him to leave the room to find whatever it was and bite it to death for disturbing his peace and quiet, but he glanced at the Rain Guardian and stayed put, waiting impatiently.

It wasn't long before he heard the footsteps, growing increasingly louder as whatever it was approached the room. He could almost make out the floor boards creaking under its weight and the carpet on top crumpling into a ripped mess. Suddenly, the wall facing the hallway shook as something rammed it, shrieking.

The door behind him groaned as it was ripped off its hinges, revealing a huge human-shaped creature with two heads; the left one still emitting the bloodcurdling sound he had had heard earlier. The skylark drew his tonfa in a flash, one of his Cloud Rings shattering as a hedgehog enclosed the Rain Guardian.

The creature swung first, its mutated muscular arm missing the Cloud Guardian as Hibari jumped into the air. He landed on the arm and ran along it, dodging a massive hand swatting at him before bringing his tonfa at full speed at the silent head.

The hit sent the creature stumbling backwards while the Cloud Guardian nimbly jumped off, watching in annoyance as the sleeping head shook and suddenly joined in the roaring.

"So loud," Hibari muttered under his breath as the giant made a grab at him. He dodged before hitting the thing as hard as he could in its stomach. To his thrill, the creature made no sign of pain and merely shrugged off the hit and attempted to punch him. Hibari jumped back, grinning. "You're pretty strong."

The mutant answered him with a roar from the first head while the other looked around the small room, spotting the Cloud Hedgehog. It started moving towards Hibari again, left arm outstretched, and the Cloud Guardian readied himself only to gasp in surprise as the right side of the monster suddenly jerked and propelled the entire giant towards Yamamoto.

'It has two separate minds…' Hibari thought in shock as the monster struggled within itself. The giant's right arm finally reached its target and pounded into the spiked ball as the left arm and leg simultaneously tried to move towards Hibari. It raised its arm for the next hit and brought its right fist down the second time only to get thrown back and away from Yamamoto, impaled by another spiked hedgehog right in the chest.

Hibari watched as blood began pooling around the fallen beast, satisfied that it was dead.

'I need to move Yamamoto…' He vaguely remembered one of the scientists, he guessed Irie, telling him about the basement control center.

The hedgehog sphere dissipated and went back into its box as Hibari approached it, finding the Rain Guardian still sleeping. He sighed and placed a hand on the other's back and began lifting him with a little effort; Yamamoto unfortunately hadn't gotten any lighter. He suddenly felt a slight tug on his sleeve and looked down, surprised the find the other's hand pulling at his shirt. At that moment, he heard a growl from the side and dropped the other back onto the bed just as his own hedgehog crashed into him, propelling him towards the window.

He felt glass shattering around him, the shards cutting into his skin, adding to the pain caused already by the few spikes from his own hedgehog that had already cut into his chest. Hibari landed two stories below, just barely managing to shrink the hedgehog before his back slammed against the grass. The animal nudged his chin worriedly with its furry head, squeaking anxiously.

Hibari coughed, trying to catch his breath, as the monster landed beside him with a giant roar.

'Ah, he left the infirmary. That's good…' He tightened his grip on his tonfa, trying to move as the monster, its chest now completely healed, raised its fist for the final blow.

.

"Hey! I've confirmed the readings!" Irie said through Lambo's earpiece. "All four have a combination of Lightning and Sun Flames!"

"Ah, okay," the Lightning Guardian said.

"I'll contact Lady Uni then," Lambo heard Giannini tell the others.

"Do you see them yet? The two largest readings are just up ahead!" Irie continued anxiously.

The Lightning Guardian, youngest of the tenth generation of Vongola, froze when he heard a roar down the corridor, too scared to move.

'No… I have to be brave…' He willed his feet to move forward.

.

"Uh… ouch to the extreme," Ryohei said quite monotonously as Gokudera stared at his friend's bullet riddled back in shock. A pair of chains erupted from the floor, grabbing Dante's wrists and pulling him away from Ryohei as the Sun Guardian's image shuddered and melted into a mass of Mist Flames, revealing Fran.

"Wow, I want one of these chairs with my next paycheck," the Mist Flame user said as he slowly lowered one of the heavy cushioned metal chairs that the others had been sitting on earlier to the floor, the cushion now quite obviously ruined. They turned back to Dante, who chuckled.

"You got me," he laughed. "However…" the chains on him melted away as his left eye switched back to the first kanji, "you do realize that you should've used that opportunity to escape, right?" He reached into his sleeve and then quickly flicked his wrist, and Gokudera immediately felt a light pain on his cheek. The Storm Guardian touched it, finding a thin line of blood caused by the little needles the other had just thrown throughout the room.

"Now…" Dante pulled out a gun, reaching in his pocket for the bullet, and then loaded the weapon before slowly pointing it to his head.

'Damn it, the Possession Bullet!' Gokudera panicked. If he was hit, then everyone else in the room must have also been wounded by Dante's weapon.

"Goodbye to your free will," the leader of the Estraneo said as his finger tightened on the trigger.

"Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you." They turned their heads to the other side of the room, finding that the one who had spoken was Dante's bodyguard, who had been watching the entire scene expressionlessly from his place.

"Hm…" Dante reconsidered his action and lowered his gun away from his head, instead pointing it at his bodyguard and firing. The guard ducked, and the bullet hit the wall behind him harmlessly, leaving yet another hole in the wall.

"Oops, you missed," he sang.

"Show yourself!" Dante yelled furiously.

"Are you sure?" the guard asked.

The Estraneo leader gritted his teeth, fists clenched in anger. "Why are you here?" he snarled as the others watched the scene silently. Tian stood up, helping his own bodyguard to his feet.

"Because we found out that you were still alive," the other answered as his form started melting deliberately slowly to prolong the effect. "Because, in exchange for helping him bring peace to the mafia world, I was promised you," two different colored eyes stared back at him now, "my dear ex-boss."

"Mukuro," Gokudera gasped.

"Good job, Fran, you performed beautifully," Mukuro told his pupil.

"Hey Master, why do you always give me the dangerous jobs?" Fran retorted. "Do you know how hard it was to dodge…"

"What is the meaning of this? Did you control the gunmen too?" Dante interrupted the Mist Flame user's rambling.

"Kufufu," Mukuro laughed. "What do you think?"

"He switched the bullets when you weren't looking and used it on the gunmen," Fran answered for him. "You had so many of them that it was easy to delay some of the shots and only fire the one that missed first before…"

"Quiet, little one," the Mist Guardian said.

Dante laughed, "Yet you stopped me from pulling the trigger."

"You wouldn't have died anyway," Mukuro stated.

"True, but, like I said before," he raised his sleeve and pressed a little button on his watch, "you should've taken that opportunity to escape."

They heard stomping in the distance, along with what sounded like a pack of wolves. "My creations," Dante purred as the sounds closed in around them.

"Master?" Fran asked uncertainly.

"Get ready," Mukuro told him, still smiling.

The Varia member sighed, nodding to Gokudera. "Keep them busy while I think of a cool pose, will you?"

"What?" the Storm Guardian exclaimed.

"Why didn't you let him shoot?" Tian muttered to Mukuro as he suddenly appeared beside the Mist Guardian.

"I simply want to fight him at his best," the illusionist replied, still smiling.

"I've heard you were more of a from the shadows kind of person," the leader of Nero commented, sighing.

"Disappointed?"

"Quite."

"I have my reasons this time."

Their eyes met, and Mukuro allowed the other to evaluate him, still smiling almost apathetically. "Fine," Tian finally answered, looking away first.

Mukuro chuckled. "Oh, and I guess I owe you a 'thank you' for not giving away my disguise. You do have pretty good eyes."

Tian shrugged. "If you want to thank me then make sure we all get out of here in one piece."

The door broke down behind him and the monsters poured into the room, surrounding them.

"That's up to you."

* * *

Hello! I suddenly realized that that has review responses (feeling stupid), but we're so far into the story, that I don't know where to start haha. I'll try to respond to reviews starting next story, so for now, please just send me a message if your questions are not answered by the end of this story! Arigatou!

Tian uses Sun Flames yay! So he's supposed to be a prodigy at "seeing" people's intents, illusions, etc. Fighting skills wise… I don't know… haven't written that part for the next chapter yet haha. Sorry, I sometimes get all crazy when it comes to character creation. He's kind of a symbol of the rest of the mafia families that we don't have names for.

As always, thanks for reading! Ice cream for all! Ah… I am hungry now…

It is so hot… My room is like an oven (sizzle).


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

To CanadianCookie: Thanks on Chapters 19 and 24! I have fixed the typos ^.^

* * *

-Present-

They reached the park without too many problems; Hibari had whipped out his tonfa several times when the occasional bird flew out of a tree or a stray dog barked. To Yamamoto's relief, the place was strangely quiet today, the wind and birds being the only disturbances in the area.

"We're here!" the Rain Guardian announced, grinning, finally letting go of Hibari. The skylark merely stood there, watching the other like a hawk and waiting for any signs of movement. "Uh…" Yamamoto chuckled, "Do you want to walk around?"

"Didn't we do that already?" Hibari returned, quite irritated by now that he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

"No no no! This is different," the Rain Guardian told him. "It's like… walking with nature."

"You do realize that the park is manmade with Namimori's tax dollars."

"Uh… atmosphere," Yamamoto corrected himself, still grinning. Before Hibari could argue some more, he took the skylark's hand and began following the paved path along the park.

Hibari admitted that it was a little different than their trek to the park; Yamamoto was walking a lot slower now, and the hand around his was a little less forceful, although he could sense the tenseness through the other's light grip. Nevertheless, he felt just a little like a child being led around the park by his parent. Just a little.

"This is awkward," Hibari finally muttered.

Yamamoto chuckled. "How so? We're just like a couple walking around in the park…" Hibari whacked him in the stomach with his tonfa for that statement. "Ow… a violent couple."

"This is like an herbivore's…" At that moment, someone jumped out of the tree above Hibari, switchblade drawn, and just as quickly, Yamamoto had already instinctively pulled the skylark aside and gave the attacker a swift elbow to the face, knocking him out.

"Hm… must be from one of the gangs in the neighboring city," Yamamoto frowned, knowing that they knew anything about the head of the Disciplinary Committee of Namimori, they would have never even stepped foot in the area. He sighed when a few more jumped out of the bushes, all armed with switchblades, forming a little circle around them.

.

Yamamoto shook the pain out of his hand, regretting that he had left his bat at home today. 'Some of them have iron stomachs,' he thought to himself, sighing at the mess they had made in the park. Many of the gangsters were hanging from the trees or knocked out on the bushes.

He turned back to Hibari, intent on continuing the previous conversation, "Does me liking you make me any less a carnivore?"

The Cloud Guardian stared at him for a moment before a smirk formed on his face. "So you're finally admitting it."

Yamamoto shrugged, grinning, "Maybe. If it makes you happy."

The other pointed a tonfa at his face, almost shaking with anticipation. "Fight me."

Yamamoto chuckled. "Okay."

Tsuna and Gokudera watched in dumbstruck surprise as the two began sparring, Hibari swinging mercilessly at the other while Yamamoto dodged and finally found a tree branch to use as a weapon, using it to deflect another attack from the side.

"What the hell…" Gokudera muttered. "I thought they made some improvement already."

Tsuna shrugged, sighing. "Maybe that's just how they express their love…"

At that moment, Yamamoto dropped the branch he was carrying before grabbing the other's arm and pulling him into a kiss.

"Oh…" Tsuna blushed.

Gokudera fainted when both tonfa fell to the floor, the hands that previously held them moving to embrace the other around the neck.

-Future-

"Lambo, are you there yet?" Irie asked, sweating with anticipation.

"I hear them!" the Lightning Guardian assured him, suddenly making out a, "to the extreme!" He stopped, frowning. "Hey, Irie, I thought Ryohei went with Gokudera to the meeting."

"Uh… about that…" the scientist didn't seem all too happy to discuss the subject.

"But I just heard him!" Lambo continued.

"What?" Irie looked at the radar readings again, realizing that new Sun and Sky Flame readings had shot up in the area since the last time he glanced at the screen. "He's here? Then who went with Gokudera?"

"Irie, look!" Spanner pointed just as the Cloud Flames on the other side of the radar flickered and disappeared, leaving only the double Sun and Lightning Flames.

"That's just outside where Yamamoto is stationed!" Irie suddenly remembered, gasping.

"Then the Flame that just disappeared must have been Hibari!" Giannini concluded.

"Ugh, everything's going wrong," Irie exclaimed, pulling at his hair, "and we've still haven't been able to make contact with Gokudera!"

.

"Hey, what did you do with Ryohei anyway?" Gokudera asked Fran as he eyed the monsters.

"Oh, I just gave him a sleeping pill and took his phone with me. I think Irie equipped it with sensors or something; it's been flashing ever since we left the mansion," the Mist Flame user answered, swinging the object around.

"Joy…" the Storm Guardian sighed. He hoped that the Lawn Head would at least wake up in time to fight off whatever Dante had sent to the mansion, but he was wasn't all too keen on asking what exactly Fran had put in the other's dinner.

The nearest monster, a wolf-human, became the first to spring at them, and he immediately shot it down in a mass of red Flames. The others watched their companion writhe on the floor, howling as the Storm Flames disintegrated its fur. Then, the entire pack was on them, running for their throats as the bodyguards jumped in front of their bosses, many of which were unable to hold his own in most fights.

"Oh no you don't," Mukuro sang as Dante turned and ran out of the room to let his creations do the dirty work. The Mist Guardian knocked aside one of the creatures with his trident before conjuring a network of vines that pushed through the small pack, creating a path to the door. To his surprise, a flaming bronco suddenly stood in the middle of the illusion, neighing as its Sky Flames burned brilliantly around it.

"Use him!" Dino yelled before catching one of the animals with his whip and hurling it aside against the wall.

The Mist Guardian blinked, thinking it was a remnant of an illusion created by his fleeing ex-boss. Even Mukuro was shocked that the other would entrust the horse to him. Meanwhile, Tian ducked, allowing one of the creatures to jump over him, before shoving a burst of Sun Flames from one of his two rings into a Box Weapon and pointing it to the Sky Horse, summoning a gold snake that settled snuggly around the other Box Weapon like a necklace.

"He'll activate the horse's Sky Flames until his own Flames run out just in case anything happens to the Chiavarone," the head of the Nero yelled through the chaos, earning a "Hey!" from the man in question still throwing monsters around with his whip. He smirked when Mukuro continued to stand there, staring at him and Dino with a half frown as if it was the strangest thing the two could have ever done, offering him, the man who wanted to eliminate the mafia, help, knowing that they were giving up a powerful asset to their current situation with the monsters. "Your reason, right? Better follow him before he gets away."

"Kufufu," Mukuro finally laughed. "Not my fault if you guys die then."

"That's up to you," Tian returned. "Kick his ass for us!" With a final smirk, the Mist Guardian jumped on the horse and rode it out of the room.

Sighing, Tian jumped on top of a chair this time to avoid another lunging monster, narrowly escaping its fangs, before leaping aside onto the table to dodge another creature.

"You sure dodge a lot," Dino commented.

"Unfortunately, I'm just not built for fighting," Tian said, shrugging as he jumped again to safety. "You see, I can only use small amounts of Sun and Cloud Flames, but…" He waved his hand, sending a small stream of the two Flames across the room.

The beam collided with Gokudera's arrow just as it left the Storm Guardian's arm, and the room exploded in light, making everyone dive for the floor. Dino blinked as the light cleared, revealing a mass of fallen monsters, their bodies still steaming from the mixture of Flames. The others got up, inspecting themselves shakily for injuries as Gokudera stared on in disbelief. Save for a few scratches from claws and teeth, there were none.

Tian grinned. "As long as you have perfect control over your Flames, even a small amount is enough." He straightened up, stretching. "Anyone dead?" he asked, looking at the others. Aroldo, eyes still wide from shock, shook his head no as one of the bosses fainted.

"Great, now let's go after that bastard."

"It's suicide! We don't even know what's out there!" his friend warned.

The young leader of the Nero turned to him. "Okay, then Aroldo should take care of the ones who don't want to fight. We can't let him get away."

"Wait, you can't fight!" he shakily called after Tian, but the other had already left. Dino shrugged, grinning, before going out the door after the young boss. Gokudera nodded to the others before running out with Fran, and several more followed, leaving Aroldo and many of the others behind, staring after then, torn between the two decisions offered to them. One would probably get them killed instantly, but the other might lead to a slow and painful death somewhere in the future if the leader of the Estraneo were to escape.

.

A blur flew between the Cloud Guardian and the creature, the shine of a katana making Hibari snap out of his daze as he realized that it was the Rain Guardian himself who now had a sword embedded in the monster's fist, using all the strength he had to keep that hand from reaching the skylark.

"You're awake…"

"Well you guys were making so much noise, I just couldn't miss out on the fun," Yamamoto replied, grinning. His legs buckled under the weight and he fell on his knees, still valiantly trying to keep his position. "This is hard without Flames," he gasped, his entire body shaking from the weight, but he hung on nonetheless.

Hibari jumped up, ignoring the growing pain in his chest as his wounds stung in protest to the sudden movement, and threw the little hedgehog towards the creature, sending a wave of Cloud Flames into the Box Weapon. He got the desired effect; the ball of spikes expanded and crashed into the monster's chest, slightly relieving Yamamoto of the pressure. The Rain Guardian immediately took the opportunity to slide to the side and away from the hand before slicing the offending arm only to find his blade harmlessly bounce off, Lightning Flames flickering off the edge when it made contact with skin. He jumped back as the other arm made a swing at him, its owner still impaled by the hedgehog.

"He's not going down easily is he?" Yamamoto chuckled, raising his sword when he felt a hand on his arm.

"No," Hibari told him bluntly, panting slowly from the pain. "You're not using your Flames…" Yamamoto frowned; he doubted that the skylark would last much longer in this fight if he sustained another blow. A roar from the monster made Yamamoto throw the two of them to the side as the hedgehog came flying back at them.

"Ah, that kind of sucks," Yamamoto commented when he saw the Sun Flames begin healing the wounds on the creature. "It uses both Sun and Lightning Flames?"

"It has two minds," Hibari told him.

"Hm…We'll just have to hit it so hard that it can't regenerate," he concluded enthusiastically, grinning.

'Is he an idiot?' the other thought, wondering if it was because Yamamoto had just woken up.

"You can't use your Flames," the skylark reminded him again.

Yamamoto chuckled. "Don't worry about that. Now… where's a good place to hit… Oops." He jumped away just in time, half-carrying Hibari with him, as the fist connected with the ground, sending wet dirt and grass everywhere.

He waited for the incoming tonfa as he landed but, to his pleasant surprise, at the moment he found none.

"Hibari, you didn't hit me?" Yamamoto commented, grinning like a schoolboy who just had his confession accepted.

"The heart," the skylark said, ignoring him.

"Huh?"

"It must have two hearts. Pierce both, and it shouldn't be able to regenerate," Hibari explained impatiently, flinching slightly from the pain as he tried to push Yamamoto away and stand fully on his own two feet.

"Hey, take it easy…" the Rain Guardian told him, frowning.

Hibari saw the monster coming up from behind and smirked, hitting Yamamoto away as the creature attacked again. He pulled out another Box Weapon and summoned the Cloud Hedgehog as the fist came down; the little creature expanded just in time for the monster to impale itself on the spikes with its own momentum, throwing Hibari to the ground.

'Ugh… miscalculated…' Hibari tried to claw his way out, feeling his airways begin to cut off as the weight of both the hedgehog and the monster on top of him pushed him further into the mud. He thanked his hedgehog for mostly missing him. However, although the spikes only scraped his shoulders this time, the rest of his wounds were screaming from the weight.

"Hibari!" Yamamoto yelled as he struggled to his feet. A sound made him turn to the monster just as the skin around one of the spikes that stuck out of the creature's back suddenly exploded, gushing blood out onto the grass. 'That's one of the hearts!'

His grip tightened on his katana as the Rain Flames exploded onto it. Yamamoto took a breath and lunged at the monster's gray skinned back, feeling the blade slide in with the help of his Flames.

"What are you doing?" the Cloud Guardian yelled when he saw the blue Flames.

.

"Man these things are a pain," Gamma said, rubbing his face where the monster had just hit him. A ring of them surrounded him and were slowly closing in, their eyes gleaming with the lust for blood. "This is it, huh?" he chuckled, clenching the wound at his side in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

A swarm of owls suddenly flew out of the trees, making the creatures look curiously at the birds, distracting them momentarily.

'Owls?'

Suddenly, the birds conjugated on the monsters; there were so many that they were almost covered as they swatted at the owls in irritation.

"Don't move," a female voice warned him as Gamma was about to stand up and take the opportunity to strike back at the enemy. He ducked just as a blast of orange Flames exploded from somewhere among the trees, sweeping the area with a loud roar as it burned whatever it touched to nothingness.

"Who…" he gasped, but he saw only Chrome, who fell to her knees from the effort it took to summon the owls, holding tightly on to her trident as Chikusa and Ken jumped out from behind her.

.

"Kyoko! Hana!" Lambo called out when he spotted the two, hurrying over to them. "Are you okay?"

"Hana got hurt protecting me," Kyoko told him, motioning with her head for him to look outside. Lambo gasped when he saw the four fighting. "Ah! What are those things?"

He watched in horror as the one holding Ryohei brought the Sun Guardian to one of its head's, canine-lined mouth wide open to bite. A burst of Sky Flames from the Liger suddenly engulfed the creature, making it drop its prey, and the Guardian landed on the ground with a thump. Ryohei rolled away just in time to avoid another fist before throwing a punch of his own to the creature's leg. The monster roared, shaking the remnants of the Sky Flames off of it, not even noticing the blow.

"It wasn't even scratched by Xanxus's Flames," Lambo gasped.

"Lambo! There's another one headed towards your direction!" Irie suddenly shouted in the Lightning Guardian's ear.

"Another one?" Lambo exclaimed, panicking, looking at the two. "They're already having enough trouble with the two here!"

Before the cow could warn the two fighters, the third monster ran out from the bushes, shrieking as it punched Xanxus, catching him by surprise.

"Xanxus!" Kyoko yelled beside Lambo, who looked around frantically for help as the three monsters closed in on the two fighters outside. He finally found it in the form of a flash of light in the sky.

'There's lightning!'

Lambo ran out into the rain, his Lightning Flames lighting on his ring as he moved towards the monsters. The clouds flashed again, and he grabbed at it with his own flames, dragging the bolt towards the earth at the three creatures before engulfing them in green electricity. The monsters shrieked as the plasma burned at their skins and went through their bodies, disrupting all electrical signals it touched. Xanxus took the opportunity and pulled out his gun, firing at the weakened creatures until he ran out of bullets while Ryohei sent his own Sun Flames into the chaos, mixing the yellow Flames with the rest.

Lambo covered his ears, stopping the onslaught of lightning, when he heard the monsters scream, their voices strong enough to make the ground beneath him shudder. Then suddenly, all was silent except for the rain. He looked up, hoping, but fear made him tremble. However, all he saw were lifeless heaps of flesh on the floor, blood pooling around them from their punctured hearts.

.

Mukuro jumped off the horse, giving it a pat on the head. "Go back now. This is my fight," he told the unwilling creature, who neighed in protest. The snake on its neck slithered to the top of the bronco's mane, staring at the Mist Guardian expectantly, its tongue flickering in and out to taste the air.

Dante laughed as he waved his hand, and the vines that had caught him disintegrated into ash. "A bit too confident, are we?"

"I believe you're the one who is overly confident. I must applaud you for managing to bring nearly everyone in the underground into one room. I'm surprised you didn't use that opportunity better," Mukuro answered, smiling.

"My my, the same can be said of yourself." The ground below the Mist Guardian became fire, but Mukuro shrugged it off as wave of water washed it away. A wall of rock rose around Dante, blocking the onslaught of liquid effortlessly as the rain around them began increase. "Not bad," Dante sneered, "but you forget who was the one who gave you that eye." The ground around them cracked open, and arms reached out to drag their respective targets into the earth.

Meanwhile, the fighters finally reached the door, throwing it open to see the two they were looking for outside, the area cloaked in Mist Flames.

"Dante," Gokudera's hand went to the Box Weapons on his belt as the others drew their weapons.

Tian raised a hand to stop them.

"Hey, weren't you the one who suggested we go after him?" Gokudera hissed.

"Yeah, but I didn't say to fight him," Tian responded. "This is their fight."

They watched as Dante jumped away and played with the watch on his wrist yet again. Roars echoed from the distance.

"You haven't changed a bit," Mukuro chuckled when he saw the action.

Gokudera tensed, ready to jump in regardless of what the head of the Nero had to say. This was, after all, one of the Guardian's of Vongola, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to Mukuro, for Tsuna's sake.

"Oh, nevermind, I vote we interfere!" Tian said when he saw the mass of giants stomping towards the two. "Tch, coward…" he muttered under his breath, as he whistled. His snake gave Dino's bronco a nudge on the ear, and the horse came galloping back to them.

Fran frowned when he saw the army, taking the headset out of his pocket when the phone suddenly vibrated, its signal now fully restored since they were outside. "Hey! Can you hear me?" a static-lined voice asked.

"Hello?"

"Huh? Fran?" Irie's voice came through.

"Should've known…" he heard Spanner mutter in the background.

"Anyway, what's the situation?"

"Oh, we almost got killed by a bunch of gunmen from Estraneo…" Fran answered.

"They're still alive? Impossible…"

"But Master and I stopped them, and then we almost got killed by a pack of animal experiments," Fran continued, ignoring Irie, "and now we're about to get killed by an army of mutant giants."

"They're there too?"

"Oh, you've already seen them?"

"The four… no, five, here are made of both Lightning and Sun Flames."

"Ah, hear that?" Fran asked the others. "Those things are made of Lightning and Sun Flames." He returned to the headset. "Any cool ways to kill them?"

"Lambo just said they killed two by destroying both their hearts before they can regenerate."

"I think ours are a little different though." Fran squinted at the monsters approaching them and sighed. "Nevermind, he just said to kick their butts," he told the others.

"What wonderful advice," Tian commented, shaking his head, and walking over to Dino's horse.

"Sorry Jin," he told the snake as he took it off of the Sky Horse and suddenly threw it into the air, sending a wave of Cloud Flames after it. The snake glowed and gave a hiss before propagating into a massive gold dragon.

"I thought you said you can't fight," Dino said, looking at the dragon.

"I can't. You guys fight, and I'll help from here. Jin will amplify your attacks from a distance," Tian answered, cracking his knuckles as the others looked at each other.

"Well what are we waiting for?" one of the bosses that had followed them announced. "Let's go!" The others yelled in agreement and charged down the front steps towards the army, summoning their own Box Weapons as they went.

Tian took a few steps down and took a deep breath. 'Got to concentrate…'

"What are you waiting for?" he asked Dino when he realized that the bronco and its master had not moved.

"You sure you'll be okay by yourself?" The Chiavarone asked him.

"Sure enough," he shrugged.

.

"Okay, I got one!" Fran announced.

"Finally," Gokudera yelled as he ducked, missing out on Fran's intricate series of poses before the Mist Flame user finally summoned his Box Weapon using one of his Hell Rings.

The Mist Flames cleared from Fran's hand to review a miniature Bel plushie grinning at Gokudera.

The Storm Guardian's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. "What the hell? You spent all that time just to summon that?"

The Bel plushie took a breath and suddenly blew a massive wave of fire at the monster, engulfing it. 'Well… I guess that's something…' Gokudera thought.

"Hurry up and hit it," Fran told him, still holding the plushie up.

"Huh?"

"It's only an illusion," the other explained.

"What?" Gokudera grumbled as he made a clean shot at the monster, watching in awe as a beam of mixed flames suddenly combined with the arrow and disintegrated the creature. "Fran…" he turned to the other, eyes flashing daggers.

"Okay, okay," the Mist Guardian said, pointing his little Bel at the other monsters. The ground shook and a mass of vines shot up, grabbing onto the creatures and immobilizing them.

Meanwhile, Nero was concentrating the bursts of Flames one by one, not noticing that one of the creatures had made its way towards him, unnoticed by the others. He realized a second too late, only to suddenly get thrown to the ground as a giant hammer blocked the incoming fist and then rammed into the monster's chest, knocking it down the stairs.

"Need help?" Aroldo asked him, grinning. The rest of the bosses stood behind him.

Tian laughed, getting up. "Now might be a good time."

.

The Mist Flames around the two fighters continued to grow, almost creating a barrier between them and the other bosses fighting Dante's creations. A wave of mutant canine-teeth lined monsters jumped out of the earth and charged at Mukuro, who met fire with fire, summoning his own hoard of illusionary animals. Unfazed, Dante only called forth more and threw a wave of fire at the Mist Guardian, lighting the area inside the Mist Flame bubble with its flames.

Mukuro smirked, waving his trident at the flames to knock the attack aside and then stabbed the weapon into the ground, encasing the area in darkness. Dante gasped when his vision suddenly flickered and died with the darkness and summoned another wave of flames in an attempt to get it back.

"Kufufu," he heard laughing and calmed down, summoning a ring of fire around him to light up just the immediate area.

"Funny…" he heard the Mist Guardian's voice from somewhere in the black void. "You claim to have mastered the Six Paths of Reincarnation, yet you're afraid of the darkness."

"Those paths were lined with fire. Flames that will burn down the old order and create a new one that would ultimately rule the world," Dante retorted.

"Really now…" The Mist Guardian's face suddenly appeared just before him, and he yelled in surprise, sending a blast of fire at it, but Mukuro disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.

"Isn't that what you want?" the Estraneo accused the darkness. "We should join forces like before. No one will be able to stop us."

"No," the echo answered him. "I wanted to cleanse the world with darkness. I wanted that fire to die."

The trident came at him like a snake from the shadows, its owner's right eye burning with Mist Flames.

"Besides, I was never on your side."

'Just an illusion…' Dante gasped when he felt his life's elixir start to flow from the three places where the weapon had impaled him. The illusions around him shattered, and he looked around, seeing his fallen creations strewn across the grounds, a flash of light, a golden dragon hovering near the mansion…

Footsteps came towards him, making squelching sounds as the mud ate at Mukuro's boots, the rain still falling lightly around them. The Mist Guardian stared at the dying boss of Estraneo, not moving to pull the trident out.

"Excellent job…" Dante coughed, laughing through a mouth filling with blood. "Now the world is almost under your fingertips."

"World?" Mukuro chuckled. "What makes you thinking defeating you would give me the world?" One of the wolf-humans from the earlier army suddenly jumped at him from behind, and he wrenched the trident from the dying man, impaling the new attacker. Mukuro pulled the weapon out from the dead creature, his usual smile gone now. "I don't experiment on my children like you do, Father."

"Mukuro…" Dante called after the Mist Guardian, hand outstretched, as the other walked away. His hand finally fell to the ground, lifeless, blood trickling down his face from his empty red eyes. Mukuro never looked back as he swung his trident violently through the air, throwing the blood on it to the ground.

.

"Dead!" Bel pronounced, cackling as he game the corpse a kick.

"Ew, what a mess. Are you cleaning it afterwards?" Lussuria asked him, frowning at the pile of flesh on the floor, remains of the monster after Squalo and the others had finally weakened it enough for Bel to disintegrate it with his Storm Flames.

"Hello?" Squalo's headset suddenly came to life again after being silent during the entire battle.

"What do you want now?" the swordsman yelled at him, reminding Irie to keep the phone at least a foot away from his ear.

"Lambo's group defeated the enemy by shooting it through their hearts. I think if you can destroy both at the same time…"

"We're done already!" Squalo roared.

"You are?" Irie suddenly noticed the remaining reading had disappeared.

"What did you expect? We're Varia!"

Silence came at the end of the phone before the other laughed in relief. "Of course, of course."

.

Xanxus looked up to see a hand, offering to help him up, and realized it was Ryohei's. He chose to ignore it, proudly standing up on his own and recalling his liger back into its box.

"Hey I was just being nice to the extreme!" Ryohei exploded. "Is this how you treat you future brother-in-law?"

Meanwhile, Hana's eyes flickered as she came to, and she sat up, her head hurting a little from the earlier crash on the wall. "Ryohei?" she called out to him when she finally spotted her boyfriend outside in the rain.

"Hana!" Ryohei yelled happily when he realized Hana was awake, and he ran off into the house through the massive hole in the wall, giving the girl a big hug. "You're okay!"

"Same goes for you… Don't you know how worried I was? I thought that you had died!"

"Eh, why'd you think that?"

"You idiot!" she whacked him halfheartedly before hugging back, crying.

"Wait, what does me being an idiot have to do with anything?" Ryohei asked her, confused, but the girl wouldn't answer and only hugged him tighter.

Kyoko chuckled at the two in front of her before looking over at Xanxus, their eyes meeting.

Xanxus blinked when what Ryohei had just said finally sank in.

.

Hibari hit him right across the face, earning a loud, "Ouch!" from the other. "What was that for?" Yamamoto whined, massaging his cheek.

The tonfa fell to the ground as the skylark grabbed his collar. "You herbivore… You could've died," he snarled. His face was pointed down, and Yamamoto couldn't make out the other's expression, but the slight shake of Hibari's hands was enough for him.

He wrapped his arms around the other, pulling the resisting skylark into an embrace. "Same goes for you," he chuckled. He felt the other tense, and inwardly laughed at all the things that must be going through Hibari's head, most likely on whether or not to pick up the abandoned tonfa and beat whatever consciousness was left out of the Rain Guardian. However, after a few seconds, Hibari relaxed, and Yamamoto smiled in relief, taking it as a sign to go just a little further. He leaned down, his nose just touching the hair above the other's forehead, and whispered, "I love you," daring to steal a whiff of the skylark's scent.

Hibari looked up a little too quickly, their faces now just inches away. Yamamoto grinned and closed the distance, kissing him lightly on the lips. The skylark flinched just a little before relaxing; he was too tired to retaliate anyway. He closed his eyes, allowing Yamamoto to deepen the kiss as he melted into it. He could feel his ears burning but didn't care anymore as he allowed his consciousness to finally fade, safe within the warmth that surrounded him.

The Rain Guardian pulled away when he felt the other slump against him. "You just had to fall asleep," he chuckled. The Cloud Guardian had survived all of the wounds sustained from the creature, but a simple kiss had knocked him out. Yamamoto slowly lowered the both of them to the ground, now sitting on the wet grass, but he didn't care. The rain had finally stopped, and he could just barely make out the sun peeping out from behind the clouds.

His own eyes were feeling a little heavy at the moment. "Ah… they'll find us…"

He heard yelling in the distance as he closed his eyes, too tired to think at the moment. He smiled as he allowed sleep to take him once again. 'It's all okay now… He's safe…'

"Yamamoto! Hibari!" Ryohei yelled as he finally reached the two. He found them both sleeping peacefully on the ground, the swallow with a protective wing over the skylark on top of him.

* * *

Hello! Hm… well… the story's almost done ^.^! There's going to be an epilogue and one or two "extra" chapters XD. I'm so excited; it's been more than a year! 8018 FTW!

To pamellka: Why am I bacon? Haha ^.^ don't eat me yet! I must finish the story!

So, when I was writing Tian's character, I was constantly thinking about Izaya from Durarara, Hibari, and these little things: confident with moments where he's unsure, seemingly strong but actually physically very weak, sharp-tongued, sarcastic, etc. He's supposed to be Chinese ahaha, but Izaya and Hibari are both Japanese so… maybe he's half Chinese and half Japanese? (Maybe one of these days I'll try drawing him and then throw it on Deviantart. My drawings are so crappy though haha!)

Anyways, thank you so much for reading! Yay for those who have converted to 8018!


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

-Future-

"You're okay!" Giannini exclaimed happily when he saw Gokudera and Fran walking towards them, looking more or less unharmed save for their exhausted dispositions. "We were so worried!"

"Yeah…" Gokudera sighed, wanting nothing more than to take a nice warm bath and sleep for a few days like Yamamoto had done. "Mukuro showed up and saved us."

"Mukuro?" the scientist gasped. "He's alive?"

"Where is he now?" Spanner asked, looking behind them for any signs of the Mist Guardian.

"He ran off after the battle. Said he had to pick up Chrome from the airport or something," Gokudera shrugged. "He'll be at the meeting next week so…"

"We have another meeting?" Irie joined in, appearing from the door to the basement.

"Rescheduled meeting," Fran answered when he noticed Gokudera getting increasingly irritated at the growing number of people. "Can I take a bath please? Monster guts are quite smelly."

"You didn't even get any on you!" Gokudera finally exploded, directing his frustration at Fran.

"Yes, but you obviously smell, and it's quite horrendous," the Mist Flame user continued fearlessly, pretending to hold his nose in disgust.

"You…" the Storm Guardian growled.

"Okay, okay! Go rest. We'll talk later," Irie chuckled.

"Yeah, later," Gokudera mumbled tiredly, taking the opportunity to escape. They watched as the Storm Guardian trudged up the stairs, grumbling to himself.

"So how'd things go here?" Fran asked the three when their cranky leader was finally out of sight.

"We got attacked by five of them," Irie told him.

"Ah, five huh? Any casualties?"

"I don't think that's quite how you should word the question…"

Fran shrugged. "I assumed none then." He yawned. "Ah, I'm going to rest then. Catch you guys later." He started climbing the stairs before suddenly stopping, remembering something. "Oh, so how did things go with Ryohei?"

"He seemed pretty happy earlier when he contacted us in the control room; I know he was in the same area as Kyoko, Hana, Lambo and Xanxus during the attack," Irie said, confused. "Why?"

"Awesome." Fran continued up the stairs.

.

"Okay, time to rest to the extreme!" a certain Sun Guardian energetically declared as he exited the infirmary.

"You look refreshed," a voice grumbled behind him.

"Gokudera! You're okay!" The Storm Guardian found himself in a crushing bear hug and had to muster enough energy to punch the other off.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he yelled, massaging his stomach.

"Wow, you smell," Ryohei commented, holding his nose.

"I know! I just got back!" Gokudera roared at him, before pausing, realizing that the other had just come from the infirmary. "Wait, is Yamamoto still sleeping?"

"Uh… actually we found him and Hibari unconscious outside earlier. Yamamoto's okay, but Hibari had holes in him to the extreme! They're okay now though, just both sleeping."

'Holes huh…' the Storm Guardian decided not to ask.

"That's good," Gokudera sighed instead. "Argh! Okay enough of this! I'm going to sleep!"

"Don't forget to shower to the extreme!" Ryohei called after him, making the Storm Guardian consider throwing the nearest portrait on the wall at the other. He shook his head and gritted his teeth, opting instead for the bath.

.

_Tsuyoshi, his face expressionless, stood before him with a sheathed katana in his hand. Behind him, Yamamoto could barely make out the outline of a building surrounded by fire. His father suddenly smiled and turned, going into the structure before the Rain Guardian could stop him._

'_Dad!' he tried to call out, but no sound came out. He was running again, his seemingly weary feet aching in protest, and yet the distance didn't close between them. A gleam of a blade, a huge slab of fish meat, and his father's peaceful sleeping face among white flowers and polished wood came into his mind._

'_Father!' he mouthed again as the ground broke beneath him just as he saw Tsuyoshi appearing above him, his mouth opened as if beginning to say something. He was falling and falling…_

Yamamoto hit the floor with a groan as he woke, looking up dazedly at what seemed to be a dimly lit ceiling. He sat up slowly, realizing he had rolled straight off the infirmary bed, and rubbed his side, looking around. He spotted the skylark resting on the adjacent bed, seemingly undeterred by the noise Yamamoto had just made.

"I woke up before you did," he chuckled softly, throwing the blankets back messily on his own bed before walking over to Hibari's. He remembered the battle before and cautiously touched the skylark's cheek with a fingertip, finding no scar. "Ah, Ryohei did a good job," he whispered, smiling. At that moment, his own stomach growled, reminding him of the days he had already gone without food. 'Ah, I should eat before my stomach wakes him up.' He stood up and stretched; the ache in his back told him that he'd been sleeping for quite some time again.

"I'll be back." He kissed the sleeping skylark lightly on the forehead before leaving, closing the door softly behind him.

"Gokudera!" he called out, shielding his eyes from the sudden light, when he spotted the Storm Guardian outside in the hallway.

"Huh? You're awake? Took you long enough," Gokudera growled, a cigarette burning away in his mouth.

Yamamoto chuckled, "How long was I out this time?"

"Three days. Geez, I was starting to get worried that you weren't going to make it to the meeting."

"There's another meeting?" Yamamoto asked, confused. He had a feeling that the previous one didn't go all too well, especially since they ended up attacked, but he didn't expect them to reschedule a new one so soon.

Gokudera opened his mouth to explain, but a loud growl from the other's stomach stopped him. "Let's talk over some lunch," he said, sighing. It wasn't going to do any of them any good if the Rain Guardian had to go back to the infirmary for another week for hunger issues.

An hour later, Yamamoto found himself looking out the window absentmindedly, his stomach content and his mind filled to the capacity with information; he still had a little trouble putting everything together and was slowly turning it over in his head.

"I still can't believe Mukuro's alive…" Gokudera muttered, interrupting his dozing. "Why not Tsuna…"

"What's that?" Yamamoto asked.

The Storm Guardian bit his lip. "It's nothing." He decided to lightly change the subject; after all, he was quite curious about how Ryohei had found the two. "So how are things with you and Hibari."

"Ah, okay," Yamamoto chuckled.

"He was beating himself pretty badly over what happened to you back at the hotel," Gokudera said, studying the bird that had landed on the windowsill, staring at them.

The Rain Guardian smiled as he held out a hand to the creature, and it cautiously jumped on his outstretched finger. "Really?"

Gokudera sighed, clapping a hand to his head. "You two really are troublesome." The bird spotted something outside and flew away as the two laughed.

.

Hibari woke slowly, watching as the ceiling slowly materialized above him. 'Infirmary…' he confirmed as he turned his head only to find himself face to face with Yamamoto.

"Good afternoon," the Rain Guardian greeted him, grinning, before ducking just in time to dodge a fist to the face. "Whoa! Not an afternoon person, huh?"

Hibari sat up, feeling his muscles creak in protest. He didn't feel any bandages, and concluded that the Sun Guardian must have healed him earlier. "How long have I been asleep?" he asked.

"Three days, according to Gokudera," Yamamoto told him, standing up. "I just woke up about an hour ago myself."

Hibari saw the messy bed next to his behind Yamamoto and frowned, eyes silently demanding answers from the other.

"Ah, I was sleeping there earlier. Forgot to fix the bed…" Yamamoto began.

"You didn't sustain any injuries though," Hibari pointed out.

"Uh…" Yamamoto chuckled nervously. "My Rain Flames were still kind of low when we fought that monster so…"

Hibari sighed; his suspicions had been confirmed: the usage of Rain Flames during the battle really did a number on Yamamoto again. "Herbivore," he muttered.

Yamamoto laughed. "You want some food then?"

.

"Hey Boss, are we going to the meeting?" Fran asked Xanxus, who was studying the cloudless sky outside the window at the moment.

"Ah! I heard they'll have an exquisite party afterwards with lots of excellent alcohol," Lussuria added.

"Is that all you think about?" Squalo asked him, shaking his head.

"Hm…" the Sun Flame user considered the question slowly. "Yes."

"Shishishi," Bel laughed. "Yes, everyone should drink! Then…"

"Then we can kiss the peace talks goodbye," Squalo answered for him, sighing.

"Aw, can't we go?" Lussuria urged him.

"I don't see a problem with it," Fran said. "There's bound to be a lot of people from the other Famiglias as well. It'll be a good opportunity to bond. Ah, I heard that Kyoko is going too," he added, looking at Xanxus. In response to the statement, Squalo hastily pulled the Mist Flame user away to the corner of the room.

"Just what kind of tricks do you have up your sleeve?" Squalo whispered through teeth clenched.

"Nothing," the other replied innocently as Xanxus seemed to consider the issue, remaining quiet throughout the entire ruckus.

.

A day before the meeting, the Storm Guardian met the skylark halfway up the first floor hallway, surprised that the other was walking so naturally despite the numerous injuries Ryohei had described.

"Where is Yamamoto Takeshi?" Hibari asked him.

"Why are you always asking me?" Gokudera sighed. "I seriously have no idea this time. Weren't you with him?"

"No," Hibari shrugged as he continued walking.

"Hey, we have a meeting tomorrow with all of the mafia leaders. Are you going?" he asked, but the skylark had already disappeared around the corner. He sighed, shaking his head as he twirled the car keys on his finger. 'Whatever, I have more important things to do.'

"Gokudera," Spanner greeted the Storm Guardian when he saw him on the way to the front door. "Have you seen Irie? I have some things to discuss with him regarding research."

"Why are all of you asking me where people are?" Gokudera grumbled. "I haven't seen him today."

"Ah, thanks anyway." Spanner ran off. "I wonder where he could've gone; I saw him this morning…"

Gokudera decided at this point to escape the mansion as fast possible before he ran into another obstacle between himself and the car.

.

"Hey Dad…" Yamamoto whispered to the grave, looking down on it nostalgically as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Guess what? Vongola's really going to have peace talks with the other mafia famiglias. Isn't that something?"

He chuckled, absentmindedly looking up at the clear sky. "I might just have time to rebuild our old restaurant." He looked back at the grave, getting an idea. "Oh, do you mind if Hibari works there too?" he paused. "Wait, that's probably not such a good idea," he chuckled. "Or he can always use his Cloud Flames to multiply the meat… would that be cheating?"

Yamamoto sighed. "Hey Dad… I was wondering… if you were here… would you approve?" He grinned a little sadly, "I guess I'm not going to find out until I meet you, huh?"

As if it were an answer, the sound of footsteps from behind him made the Rain Guardian stop.

"Yamamoto Takeshi…" The Rain Guardian perked up at his name, called almost breathlessly. He turned around, sakura petals dancing around him as the wind seemed to pick up just slightly as if it sensed his own quickening heartbeat. Yamamoto reminded himself to drag the other out during spring more often; Hibari surrounded by sakura looked so…

Yamamoto chuckled. "I thought you didn't like sakura."

"Who told you to plant so many here?" Hibari retorted, walking up to him.

"Ah, they were here already; I think they just happened to bloom one of the past few days," he chuckled.

The Cloud Guardian didn't answer and instead walked past the other and placed a bouquet of flowers on the grave.

"Can't believe it's already been so long…" Yamamoto said as his eyes followed the skylark.

Hibari didn't comment, instead choosing to stare at the grave.

"Hey, how'd you know I was here anyway?"

"I didn't say I was looking for you," Hibari challenged, biting his lip, obviously lying.

Yamamoto chuckled, hugging the other from behind, nuzzling his nose in Hibari's neck. "Okay." They stayed in that position for a while; although as tranquil as it looked, Yamamoto worried just a little that the skylark would suddenly decide to turn around and give him a thrashing. He smiled that the other was able to hold out for so long this time. "Hey, are you going to the meeting?" he asked. "Gokudera said that we're trying to get as many people as we can to go…"

"So you're all crowding around Namimori…" the skylark hissed.

"No no!" Yamamoto chuckled nervously. "Uh… we're just doing some peace talks…" He could feel Hibari slowly tensing under him. "Okay fine, we're crowding. Can you come anyway, please?" he added hopefully. The other remained silent, but Yamamoto was certain that he might just have the slightest chance of getting a positive answer until he heard the faintest of footsteps on the grass and made to pull away from Hibari, but it was already too late.

"Hey look at the two lovebirds!" Gokudera's voice called out to them, immediately making Hibari instinctually turn and knock Yamamoto away with a quick swing of a tonfa.

The Storm Guardian chuckled at the amazing speed of Hibari's reflexes.

"Ah, what brings you here, Gokudera?" Yamamoto asked, massaging where the tonfa had hit his chin.

"Just visiting the Tenth's grave!" he told Yamamoto, nodding to the woods pass the cemetery. "I'd thought I'd give him an update of what's going on."

"Ah, can I join you?" the Rain Guardian asked, grinning.

"Yeah, whatever," Gokudera shrugged. He started walking again, and Yamamoto followed after giving Hibari a pleading glance. The skylark sighed and traced the other's steps slowly, deciding that he'd punish the Rain Guardian later for forcing him to "crowd."

They found Irie already at the site, staring at Tsuna's coffin quietly. He looked up when he heard the others and backed away to let Gokudera take his spot.

'So he was here, huh?' the Storm Guardian thought as he looked at the coffin, ordered by Tsuna to be kept above ground. Vines around the area had already started to grow around it; Gokudera considered calling someone to clean the place up every now and then before the forest claimed Tsuna.

"Hey Tenth…" the Storm Guardian muttered as the others looked on. "Vongola's safe now…" He stopped, staring at the coffin as the sounds of blowing leaves and petals graced the area, reminding him of days long gone: back in high school, growing up together, in Italy. He faltered. "Tsuna…" he whispered. He blinked when he saw the area around him shudder and jumped up when he sensed the presence of a new visitor.

"You…" he gasped, not believing his eyes when he saw the tenth boss of Vongola smiling from the other side of the coffin.

"That's enough, Mukuro…" someone said behind the projection.

"Kufufu… I can't play with him?" The first Tsuna's right eye slowly melted back into the familiar red and in the next moment, Mukuro took his place.

"Mukuro," Hibari snarled as Yamamoto placed a nervous hand on his shoulder to hold him back for the time being. Grinning, the Mist Guardian moved aside to review yet another Tsuna, the owner of the second voice.

The Tenth boss of the Vongola Famiglia smiled. "Thank you, Mukuro."

"T-Tenth!" Gokudera called out to him, unsure if he if he was dreaming or not.

"It took a while, but I'm back now," Tsuna told them.

"But Tenth… your mother…" Gokudera managed to somewhat compose himself.

He shook his head. "It was all planned. We had the doctors announce that she had died giving birth to Hiro. Mom and Dad… they don't have to suffer because of the mafia anymore."

"Then Hiro is really…"

"My brother. He's back with Mom and Dad somewhere in Italy now."

Gokudera paused, still finding it difficult to process what was happening in front of him. "And that took you this long?"

"We found out that Dante was still alive shortly after Byakuran was defeated. Tsuna was going to return, but decided to use his 'death' to draw out that snake," Mukuro answered.

"True… Tsuna is a symbol of Vongola's power. Without him, the enemy would be more likely to make a move," Irie pondered.

Tsuna chuckled, scratching his head. "Yeah, that's pretty much what happened. Sorry for worrying you guys."

Gokudera bit his lip. Tsuna was back. After all this time, all the frustration, the Tenth was actually alive. 'He's back. He's alive,' repeated over and over in his head. He looked the other over carefully: no scars, no wounds, no signs of anything, just life. "I still can't believe it. You're alive…" he said, his voice a little far away.

"Hey, Irie, there's something I want you to look at," Mukuro told the scientist, grinning before motioning with his head to leave.

"Huh? Okay," Irie said as he followed the other.

"Neh, let's go, Hibari," Yamamoto whispered accordingly, tugging on the Cloud Guardian's sleeve and leading him in the opposite direction the other two had disappeared.

"Tsuna…" Gokudera finally breathed when their footsteps died away.

"Gokudera," Tsuna said, smiling.

"Tsuna… I…" his voice broke, and he instead embraced the other, shaking.

Tsuna closed his eyes and returned the hug, welcoming the nostalgic warmth. "Me too, Gokudera…"

.

"You've been awfully nice," Irie commented as the two of them walked back to the main road. He guessed that Yamamoto and Hibari had probably gotten the hint and left too, but at the moment the two weren't in sight; he considered it lucky since Mukuro and the skylark would most likely start fighting now that they were away from Tsuna.

"It's your imagination," the Mist Guardian told him. "The Tenth just happened to have offered me a few tempting deals."

The scientist frowned. "And that included Dante's life? I didn't think Tsuna was the type to let you kill."

Mukuro fell silent for a few moments. "He was against it from the very beginning."

"Ah, that's what I wanted to hear."

Mukuro smiled, "The final strike was my choice, but that's doesn't matter anymore; he's dead. Besides, you're getting your 'peace'."

"What are you going to do now? Are you going to work for Vongola?" the scientist asked.

"Kufufu, hardly. I've never worked for Vongola." They saw Chrome, Chikusa, and Ken waiting in front of another car. "By the way, I change my mind about the meeting. I'm going to take Chrome out to a nice vacation. Tell Tsuna I'm going control his mind and use him to destroy the mafia when I get back."

Irie chuckled. "Of course. Of course."

.

Gokudera sighed. "Are you ready?" he asked Tsuna. "They're going to freak out when they see you."

Tsuna chuckled. "I'm ready." They opened the door and as predicted, the entire hallway exploded into whispers.

"Is that…"

"It's Sawada Tsunayoshi!"

"He's alive?"

"Impossible! I heard…"

"Wait, remember that story about the sighting?"

"Alive?"

"Who's using Mist Flames?"

"Welcome back," a voice broke through the whispers, making everyone turn to the head of the Nero, who was sitting in his chair with a gleaming smile on his face, seemingly completely unfazed by the return of the Tenth boss of Vongola.

Tsuna grinned. "Thank you."

"I thank you for helping the Giglio Nero last week during the attacks," Uni added, surprising Tsuna himself.

"You knew?"

"Gamma spoke of an orange Flame," she told him, smiling.

"Ah… maybe it is him…" the whispers began again, albeit a little quieter, as Tsuna sat down.

"Well, let's begin then," he told them as the voices died down.

"I've come up with an outline of things we can do," Tian announced, picking up the stack of paper in front of him.

"Oh, and plans to redo Mafia-Land!" Aroldo added excitedly. The room erupted yet again into a wave of excited voices.

"Chaos," Gokudera muttered behind Tsuna, who chuckled.

.

After the meeting, they all found themselves in one of the most expensive hotels in all of Japan, only a few minutes away from Namimori. Already, only half an hour in, Gokudera found it getting a little hard to not worry.

"We'll drink to the extreme!" Ryohei declared, raising a glass of wine.

"I'm beating you!" Lussuria intervened, gulping down a bottle as a member from one of the other mafia's declared victory by downing a glass of vodka before falling off his chair.

"Some party," Gokudera sighed.

"It's nice to see everyone so happy," Tsuna said.

"Yeah, but that Lawn Head and the Varia… wait," he blinked, not believing his eyes, "is Tian in the drinking game too?"

"Hey, Tian, I think you should stop," Aroldo said as he tried to carefully take the glass out of his friend's hand.

"I'm fine," the head of the Nero insisted, drinking the entire glass of red liquid again before motioning for another one. "I'm winning," he told a red Ryohei calmly as he drank the new cup.

"Tian… really…"

"I'm winning! Ha ha…" he suddenly started laughing before Aroldo managed to catch the falling glass and the boss just in time as Tian's head fell back, eyes closed.

"Huh? What happened?" the Sun Guardian asked as Fran poked the sleeping boss.

"He's sleeping," the Mist Flame user announced. "Out!"

"But he wasn't showing any signs of being drunk!" Dino added in awe.

Aroldo sighed as he tried to drag the unconscious boss to a nearby sofa. "That's Tian for you…"

"Let's draw on his face," Fran said, taking out a marker.

"They're all like little kids," one of the older bosses next to Tsuna sighed.

"It's nice to relax like this every now and then," the Tenth commented. "With no worries…"

The man laughed. "True true. Well," he raised a glass, "to all of our Famiglias' prosperity."

Tsuna raised his own glass just as he saw Xanxus and Kyoko go outside on the balcony amidst the chaos. Smiling, he closed his eyes and added, "To an era of peace."

.

Yamamoto eyed the glass in the other's hand. "Are you going to drink?" he asked innocently, only to have that drink shoved at him.

"Then you drink it."

He chuckled as he downed the alcohol. "No problem."

Hibari frowned, not expecting the Rain Guardian to finish both their glasses off so quickly. Unfortunately, due to the excellent service of the hotel the others had chosen, in seconds there were two new glasses of alcohol in their hands.

Half an hour later, they finally found the Tenth and his Storm Guardian among the mass of increasingly drunk mafia members.

"Hey!" Yamamoto called out to them, walking over to Gokudera a little unstably.

"Hey…" Gokudera eyed the other's steps curiously when the Rain Guardian suddenly fell on him. "Get off, you drunkard!"

Tsuna chuckled. "Did he drink too much?"

"What? The alcohol isn't even that strong; how can he possibly…" Gokudera saw Hibari. 'I have a hunch… Hm… in that case…'

Tsuna seemed to have gotten the same idea. "Ah, Hibari-san, do you think you can take Yamamoto back to his room?"

"What are you implying?" the Cloud Guardian asked dangerously.

"Or is he too heavy for you?" Gokudera taunted.

The skylark glared daggers at the two as the Storm Guardian handed Yamamoto over. Even though it was most likely the case, he'd never admit that the Rain Guardian was annoyingly hard to carrying in situations like this.

.

_He was back in the darkness, lit only by the burning restaurant: his old home. Again, he saw Tsuyoshi, walking slowly away from him towards the building._

"_Dad…" Yamamoto called out, finding that this time he had a voice. Tsuyoshi stopped walking, turning away from the sushi restaurant to face him. "Dad… Dad I…" Yamamoto faltered, feeling tears form on his eyes. "I'm sor…"_

_Tsuyoshi shook his head, raising a finger over his lips._

"_But…" Yamamoto began, but the air around him was already starting to fade into white. "Dad!"_

_Tsuyoshi smiled and raised a hand in goodbye as everything started moving away. "Be happy, Son…"_

Yamamoto woke calmly this time but could feel the wetness on his face, and he sighed, wiping them away with a mixture of feelings he didn't want to sort out, he didn't think needed sorting.

"Yamamoto Takeshi." He blinked away the rest of the tears, realizing that the Cloud Guardian's face was hovering over his, eyes filled with the faintest hint of worry. The Rain Guardian grinned and claimed his wake up gift, reaching up to kiss Hibari.

"You drunk," the skylark whispered in the kiss but continued nonetheless, deciding that he didn't need Gokudera yelling at them for flooding the hotel like the mansion back in Italy as an excuse. They finally pulled apart, Yamamoto falling dizzily back down to the bed from a growing headache in addition to the added heat. He felt cold glass press against his face. "Water," Hibari told him.

Yamamoto slowly sat up, chuckling, "Thanks." The skylark watched silently as the other drank all of the water slowly, slowly looking a little better than before. Yamamoto still smelled like alcohol though, he concluded, a little annoyed. True, it might have been partially his fault for not drinking, but Yamamoto just had to insist on taking the wine himself. Hibari frowned.

"Ah I'm so sleepy," Yamamoto declared when he finished, lying back down.

"Then sleep," Hibari stood up to leave when a hand suddenly grabbed his shirt. "What are you…" he began, struggling, but Yamamoto pulled him onto the bed with a strong yank before hugging him from behind like a pillow.

"Okay, I'll sleep now," the Rain Guardian purred contently.

"Let go…" Hibari muttered, regretting that he had left his tonfa on the other side of the room along with his and Yamamoto's coats.

Yamamoto only held the other tighter, nuzzling his nose into Hibari's spiky hair, the strands tickling his chin. "I love you," he said softly, closing his eyes.

Hibari sighed, finding it impossible to throw the other off in this position. Besides, the familiar warmth made him sleepy, and he found it getting more and more difficult to try leaving the comfort that surrounded him.

The skylark waited until he felt the other relax and drift back into slumber before closing his own eyes. "Takeshi." It came out as the faintest of whispers, just in case the Rain Guardian really was awake. 'Someday,' he thought as he drifted into oblivion, 'I'll tell you when we're awake…'

-Present-

_My name is Yamamoto Takeshi. Age 15. Currently dating a certain Cloud Guardian. I think. We fight more often than kiss though. _

_A while ago, Lambo shot me with… what do you call it… Oh! The Ten-Year Bazooka! Some things happened, and I almost got Hibari killed. Or rather, the older me almost got Hibari killed, and I just happened to pop in at that instant. _

_But it's all okay now. He's alive. I don't have to worry anymore. Nope…_

"_Yamamoto…"_

"Yamamoto!"

Yamamoto opened his eyes, realizing that he had fallen asleep on his desk on this warm spring day. He rubbed his eyes, yawning. "What's up, Tsuna?"

"Uh… Hibari-san's waiting for you outside," the future boss of the Vongola Famiglia muttered, motioning to the open classroom door with a jerk of his head.

The Rain Guardian smiled. "Ah, thanks!"

He gathered his school supplies hastily, throwing them in a jumble inside his bag, before running out, finding his boyfriend just outside the door.

"Took you long enough," Hibari muttered before he started walking away.

"Hey, wait up!" Yamamoto called, running after him. They went outside, greeted by the sakura trees of the school, petals blowing around them gently as they exited the gates. Hibird took flight from his branch, singing happily as the two disappeared around the corner.

Yamamoto grabbed the other's hand, dodging a tonfa from the flustered skylark in the process. Nevertheless, he held on, grinning the other's attacks away before stealing a chaste kiss and dodging another tonfa.

_It's all okay now._

_-Owari-_

_

* * *

_

It's finished! Completed! Owatta! Hahaha! Ah, my voice is hoarse right now. Evil summer colds.

Thank you all for reading! Thank you reviewers! I hope that this has been an enjoyable (although rocky, with my crazy schedule) read for you! Ice cream for all!

I'm going to start working on a little extra chapter in a bit (might take a while), but I'm still not too sure about any new 8018 stories. I have to finish this other one for another series I started before I leave for Japan. But… hopefully there might be something up before then! I'll get back to you on any new 8018 stories in the extra chapter! (Maybe a 1 line preview or something haha!)

To kikyokyoyahibari: Ah! Thanks for reminding me! I was going to mention it but forgot T.T If anyone has any questions, please post them in the reviews or pm me. I'll try to answer them in the extras ^.^ Thanks! (More questions equals more potential extra chapters!)

Thank you again!


	27. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I don't think I own KHR. Wait, do I? Let's see… I can't draw people. I can't draw furniture. I can't draw awesome hot Hibari eyes. Sigh… I don't own KHR.

* * *

"You may kiss the bride!" the preacher announced, making the audience shift in anticipation as they tried to decide between looking at either Ryohei or Xanxus. The room erupted into applauses when the two couples drew away, Ryohei beaming and Xanxus a bright red.

"Whose idea was it to have the weddings at Mafia-Land?" Gokudera whispered to Tsuna as the two of them clapped.

"It's to show off the wonderful remodeling Aroldo has done," Tian answered behind the two, giving his now blushing friend a nudge. "Oh look, the flower cannon is working!"

A shower of petals fell on them, encasing the hall in a mass of pink as the two couples slowly walked out. Gokudera picked one of the petals up, realizing that it was raining sakura. "Hibari's going to flip," he muttered under his breath, looking around for the Cloud Guardian. He found the target nearby sitting in the most secluded corner of the chapel next to Yamamoto, watching the proceedings with a blank expression. 'So far so good,' Gokudera thought when the Rain Guardian suddenly leaned over and kissed the unsuspecting skylark under the veil of flowers.

"Ah!" Gokudera turned back to the front of the chapel, blushing furiously.

"What happened?" Tsuna asked him.

"Uh, nothing." He swore he heard the distinct sound of a tonfa on a jaw among all the cheering.

.

"Ah! I can't believe both of you got married before me!" Haru exclaimed during the dinner party in Mafia-Land's most luxurious restaurant after the ceremony. "So tell me, how did they confess?" she urged Kyoko and Hana, who looked at each other, blushing furiously.

"Ah, you know Ryohei," Hana began first, looking over at her husband to see if he was within hearing range. Fortunately, a few of the other members of Vongola preoccupied him at the moment. "He just suddenly confessed during one of our walks in the park." She chuckled. "He was so loud that he scared half of the surrounding people away."

"Really? Oh, what about you, Kyoko? Somewhere romantic?" Haru urged.

"Oh, um…" Kyoko blushed. "At a restaurant."

"Oh! Candlelight dinner and everything?"

Kyoko blushed even deeper before laughing, embarrassed, and nodded.

"Aw, don't tease her," Hana said.

"Sheesh, just watch, I'm going to score one before the year's end," Haru announced, nodding to herself in resolution.

"Ah, Haru, are you dating anyone now?" Kyoko asked her.

"No! But maybe," she looked around the room, scanning the males. "Hm, Yamamoto seems like a pretty cool guy."

"Uh, for the sake of your life, you'd better not," Hana whispered.

"Huh? Why not?"

"He's with Hibari," Kyoko joined in, a small playful smile gracing her lips.

"What?" Haru exclaimed, looking over at Yamamoto again before realizing that he was indeed standing pretty close to Hibari. "No way!"

"Yes, way," Hana said, nodding, and recounted the scene a few days prior.

"_Nice day, huh?" Hana commented contentedly as she and Ryohei walked through the garden._

"_Yup!" the Sun Guardian agreed. "It's great that there's no fighting these days. I'd thought Hibari would start acting up because of all the sakura."_

"_Hey stop talking about Vongola just a bit will you?" Hana asked as she tightened her grip on her fiancé's hand. "You don't get free time like this often. Is that…" she spotted the two Guardians under one of the sakura trees._

"_Hey Yama…" Ryohei began yelling, but Hana managed to put a hand over his mouth and pull the both of them behind another tree, away from view. "What…"_

"_Don't bother them!" Hana raised a finger to her lips. She peeked behind their tree at the two sleeping figures. Yamamoto had his arm around the skylark, whose head had slid from the Rain Guardian's shoulder to his lap, and both seemed, at the moment at least, at peace. "How rare," she whispered, smiling._

"What? Seriously?" Haru lamented and began looking around again. "Oh, how about Gokudera!"

"Definitely with Tsuna," Hana said immediately as the three of them looked over the two talking with Ryohei. From their angle, they could just make out Gokudera's hand entwined with Tsuna's under the table.

"Unfair!" Haru sighed, defeated, before perking up again. "Oh oh! That guy!" she said, motioning to Tian.

"Oh, he's from another Famiglia," Hana said, putting a hand up to her chin. "I don't know too much about him but maybe…"

The leader of Nero grinned and thanked the man next to him for refilling his wine glass.

"You really shouldn't drink too much," Aroldo sighed as he placed the bottle on the table and sat back down.

"Why do I get the feeling that they're together too?" Haru muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, don't worry! I'm sure you'll find someone!" Hana declared, patting the other girl on the back. "They don't have to be in the mafia! Or maybe a scientist!"

"Don't even go there," Haru pouted.

.

"That was a great dinner!" Tsuna said, yawning, a towel around his neck to protect his pajamas from his damp hair. He found the Storm Guardian smoking on the balcony and walked over to him, peering out at the ocean around the island. "It's a beautiful night," he commented.

"Yeah," the other replied, taking another whiff from his cigarette and exhaling slowly into the air.

"I got a postcard from Mukuro the other day," Tsuna said, leaning against the balcony lazily. "They're in Hawaii."

"They've been travelling all over the place," Gokudera commented before coming to a realization. "Wait, are they using Vongola's money?"

Tsuna laughed, nodding. "Part of the deal."

"What?" the Storm Guardian grumbled. "What else did you promise that pineapple head to get him to work with you?"

"Amnesty from Vendicare."

"That's it? He broke out already though."

"Yeah, but they were going to put him back by force."

"I guess that makes sense… Wait, that's it?"

"The promise to not use the Mist Guardian in any future missions unless it is world-threatening, and of course, Dante."

Gokudera stared at him. "So you gave him a permanent vacation."

Tsuna chuckled. "Pretty much. Along with Chrome, Chikusa, and Ken. I guess he wanted normal lives for them."

"Tsuna," Gokudera began, completely serious, "a lifelong vacation is not a normal life."

"Well, he seems happy with it," Tsuna shrugged. "Anyways, Gokudera… is there something you wanted to say?"

"Huh?"

"You were holding my hand a little harder than usual during the banquet."

"Oh! Uh… I…" the Storm Guardian stuttered.

"It's okay. You can tell me." Tsuna continued to smile tranquilly, so much that Gokudera had to look away to keep his own thoughts in check. The Storm Guardian looked back at the ocean, taking a deep breath of fresh air.

"I think I want to get married…"

"We can arrange that," Tsuna told him, touching his hand.

"But… you don't have an heir, and you didn't want Hiro to…"

"It's okay. Vongola's come a long way now."

"Tsuna…"

"The Rings no longer exist in this era. There's no need for you worry about blood relations for Vongola's heir." He chuckled. "Imagine, Xanxus's grandson as the next heir."

"That's… a scary thought," Gokudera sighed.

Tsuna laughed. "Maybe. But don't worry about it, okay?"

The Storm Guardian looked at him and saw nothing but resolution in those eyes. He sighed, defeated. "Okay," he whispered, as he leaned over and kissed the tenth boss of Vongola with only the distant crash of waves disturbing them.

.

Yamamoto glanced over at the sleeping figure next to him. A year ago, he didn't even think such a scene was possible. Without thinking of the other's usual warning, he reached over and traced the many scars lightly with the tips of his fingers. Hibari groaned sleepily, attempting to swat away the intrusive hand.

Yamamoto leaned over to him and whispered. "You'll catch a cold if you sleep without any blankets." The other didn't answer and pulled the blankets up with a violent yank, knocking Yamamoto onto his back as he covered both of them. Chuckling, Yamamoto threw an arm over the other's waist, nuzzling his nose contently in the other's pale neck.

"What did you say?" the Rain Guardian asked when the other mumbled something.

"You're washing the sheets tomorrow," Hibari repeated, a light blush tinting his ears.

Yamamoto chuckled before closing his eyes and drawing the other closer to him. He never wanted to let him go again.

"Goodnight, Kyoya…"

The other remained silent for a moment before whispering, "I love you…" He tensed, waiting for Yamamoto to make a display of incredulity or jump out of the bed in surprise. Instead, the warm arms around him tightened just a bit.

"I love you too…"

* * *

Hello! Sorry this little extra took so long! The last few weeks have been busy XD! I think this might be the last chapter for this story. X.X Ah! The fluff! I took some leftover scenes from my drafts that I really didn't want to go to waste (especially the last part). 8018 forever!

I'm trying to hopelessly finish my other story right now before I leave for Japan, so the next multi-chapter 8018 story I'll work on will probably be up sometime next year! T.T I'm sorry, I know it's such a long wait. I don't want to put something up without knowing I can update (Ah, sorry about all the long delays during the school year with this one), and I still don't know about my internet situation with my host family. Anyways, I hope to see you all again!

As promised, a super short "summary": **80xOC + OCx18 = 8018**. It's going to be way different from "Let it Rain Without Clouds." Darker… T.T Ah I am depressing myself already. I've had this idea in my head for a while now, and I hope that I can find the time to type it. Anyways, I wish you guys an awesome rest of the year!

Thank you all for reading! (Hugs)


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